The Wizard and the Maidens
by Tostie
Summary: AU - So he found himself in a strange new place where the moon had apparently exploded, demons roamed the world and people were trained to use their soul as a weapon? He had to admit; even for him this was strange. Pairing undecided.
1. Chapter 1

**The Wizard and the Maidens**

The Department of Mysteries; ask anyone who had spent any time in the magical word and they could tell you all about was what being researched in the infamous department; time travel, advanced spell development, immortality, some even claimed they tried to harness the power of love.

In truth none of those people actually knew what they were talking about; most of them just repeating speculation they had heard from others. The Department of Mysteries took the best, expected the best and above all else they maintained complete secrecy on what was being researched, rumours had it that not even the current minister of magic was allowed to know what was being researched behind the closed doors of what some referred to as the most competent department of the British Ministry of Magic.

He and his house mates had spent numerous hours speculating exactly what was being researched. Sadly all to soon most of them had fallen victim to what so many older magical practisers had already fallen to. They accepted magic as something that was normal or even worse; they tried to explain magic with science.

Why could no one understand? Magic was a genuine miracle, a mystical force that was older than recorded history. Yet almost everyone treated it like it was something normal. Taking it just as much for granted as the very air they breathed.

There were exceptions of course and if his hopes were right the Unspeakables of the Department of Mysteries were an entire group of those. It was for that very reason why he had wanted to end up there after his graduation from Hogwarts. An impossible dream most had claimed; their standards were so absurdly high that they supposedly hadn't hired anyone in years.

He didn't care; half a decade ago he was a complete nobody, a punching bag for his bastard cousin and a borderline servant to his aunt and uncle and look at where he was now. At the mere age of fifteen he was already known as the European U-17 duelling champion, he was one of the top students of his class and he had seen things his younger self could only dream off.

Most importantly he had done what most considered the impossible. At age fifteen he was standing in the Department of Mysteries. Sure the circumstances were a tad irregular and sure he was technically not supposed to be here, but who cares he was there.

Now if only he had the time to study those rather interesting things he had seen instead of backpadeling for his life as he was being chased by a batshit insane witch that was cackling like some kind of deranged villain from some kind of bad movie.

One may wonder how he managed to find himself in this situation, but even he wasn't entirely sure as the situation made less and less sense by the minute. One moment he was on a rescue mission to save his idiotic, prideful, stubborn man that was his godfather and the next he had managed to enter the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Mysteries without any trouble in fact that wasn't a soul in sight.

If that wasn't strange enough then there was the fact he was ambushed by an entire group of Death Eaters. That had definitely not been a fun moment. The last time he had seen those bastards was at the end of his fourth year and that had to put it mildly not been a pleasant memory.

Fortunately for him unlike before now he was armed and ever since that living nightmare that was the aftermath of the Third task he been training harder than ever before. Without hesitation he had brought forward his staff and unleashed hell.

The confrontation was short, but brutal. Surprising even himself he was not only able to hold his own against a full group of people that were almost as feared as their leader, but even managed to take several of them down.

Yes he had the element of surprise as they probably hadn't expected to attack them considering the near suicidal odds, but regardless of that the skill level of those 'Death Eaters' had been surprisingly lacking. Sure in single combat they would most definitely destroy most of his housemates, but compared to some of his opponents in last summer's U-17 tournament there skills were most definitely lacking … well most of them at least.

He generally divided people in one of multiple classes; they were either weak, but showed promise, simply weak, piss weak, average, stronger than average, strong or genuine monsters.

Most of the Death Eaters definitely belonged in the average category; sloppy stance, laughable reaction time and all things considered they really were no better than any other NEWT level student.

Now for the actual strong ones … damn. That was the only word that could be used to describe their performance. You would think spending over a decade in the literal hellhole that was Azkaban would slow them down, but no … or at least he hoped it hadn't slowed them down. He shuddered to think how they would have been at their prime if this wasn't their best.

The weaker ones he had managed to cripple or disable in the opening moments of the fight, but in mere moments the tides turned and he had soon found himself unable to attack any longer as he was forced on an all out defence.

Spells, curses and jinxes flew by as he desperately tried to dodge, parry or shield the incoming barrage of magic coming at him. Things turned from bad to worse when he slowly moved backwards only to enter a completely unknown room.

Now he knew his sense of direction may not have been the greatest, but he was pretty sure he could not in fact get freaking lost merely by moving back the same way he had come from. Of course it was rather obvious what was responsible and normally he would be rather in awe at how magic either transported him or changed his surrounding without him noticing.

Now was not the time however as the life or death battle he was engaged in took just a little more precedence over any other thought. Mentally cursing his own stupidity for walking into what was in hindsight a rather easy to avoid trap he started to backpedal more rapidly, all the while defending himself from the onslaught of magic heading his way. Eventually the corridor he was traversing through gave way to a more open room and he quickly jumped out to the side, away from the sight of his foes and more importantly out of the line of fire.

He panted heavily as he leaned against the stone wall for a moment gathering his thoughts as he tried to form some plan of attack, preferably one where he would end up the only one remaining standing, but considering the odds that wouldn't be easy.

It was then that he heard something odd. Not the mad cackling of a deranged witch occasionally interrupted by a near child like voice calling out for him. No, that was 'normal', rather it was a sudden warning by what he assumed was one of the pursuing Death Eaters.

''No! Don't follow him in there!''

Harry blinked as he gripped his staff more tightly. 'Don't follow me in here?' He wondered. 'Great idea! And while you are it why don't you just piss off?' He mentally suggested knowing full well that was not going to happen.

It did made him wonder why exactly. Sure he was in a pretty good position to ambush anyone who would come running after him, but he had little doubt they could overwhelm him long before he could take them all down and all things considered they really didn't seem to be the type to put their own safety before their mission, so why?

It was then that he for the first time tore his eyes away from the corridor he had just come from and did and quick scan of the room hopefully finding an explanation for the Death Eaters warning. The first thing he noticed was the sign above the entrance he had come from which read; Magbob Solution.

He had no idea what a Magbob was, but he had no time to dwell about as he scanned the rest of the room. What he saw nearly froze him in shock. Not only did the circular room have no other visible exit other than the one the Death Eaters were coming from, but there was an even bigger problem; there was what could only be a massive runic array covering the whole floor.

He didn't reorganise any of the symbols, but one thing was for sure; the fact that they were glowing did not reassure him at all. While he generally considered magic to be great there was no denying that magic was fundamentally dangerous.

Each and every teacher of subjects that had practical aspects at Hogwarts had started their very first lessons with an hour long lecture on the dangers of messing up magic, not even Snape and Quirrell had been an exceptions to that and considering one loathed children in general and the other was sharing a body with a Dark Lord that was saying something.

And that was controlled magic being used, studied and mastered by countless others. Who knows how dangerous the magic of the Department of Mysteries was?

So what was he going to do; stay in room that was filled with some kind of array that seemed to have activated when he entered and one of the Death Eaters was possibly weary of? Or go back to the small corridor where the Death Eaters and almost inevitable defeat was waiting for him?

''Then stay here you coward! The Dark Lord will deal with you when we get back!''

Knowing that those words signalled the choice being made for him the youth known as Harry Potter aimed in his staff and prepared himself for the inevitable. The first to burst through the doorway was one of the Lestrange brothers, he did not know witch one, nor did he care, he merely fired a bone crushing curse towards the man's wand arm.

He grinned as the curse hit and the man howled in pain. The people who could use magic without their wand arm were far and few in between and hopefully he would distract the other Death Eaters, if only for a moment. His gamble paid of as the next one through, the other brother, instead of scanning the room to find his crouched from rushed towards his brother.

Unfortunately hot on the heels of the brother was the third and final Lestrange who sadly proved to be far less distracted by the cries of pain of her husband/brother-in-law as she almost immediately managed to spot him.

Harry cursed loudly as she flicked her wand and an all to familiar and sinister beam of red light headed toward them. He jumped to the side and retaliated with a stream of flames come form his staff.

Sadly a fourth person choose that moment to burst through the entrance and somehow sucked the flames in his wand. 'Now that looks like an interesting spell to learn.' Harry thought as he made to move out of the way of yet another torture cure when suddenly everything went straight to hell.

How in the name of all that was magic could he forget he was fighting atop a giant runic array? Yes crazy people were attacking him, but that really was no excuse.

Still no matter his reasons it sure had grabbed his attention now as the lowly glowing symbols suddenly lit up with an intensity that was literally blinding. He was forced to close clench his eyes shut as he didn't want to make his eyesight any worse than it already was.

He heard screams from the others of the room, but fortunately no magic was flung in his direction. Suddenly and without warning it felt like the floor gave way and for a single moment he felt utter weightlessness before he suddenly crashed down on the cold hard … earth?

Harry frowned as his grasped what was unmistakably dirt in his free hand. He then noticed sound of wildlife around him and the extremely clean smell of the air around them, but there was also something else, something very … wrong.

He could not explain it, but by now he knew better to ignore his gut feelings so he forced his eyes open. For a moment he saw only spots, but that cleared quickly when he noticed something was lunging toward him!

Having no time for magic; Harry merely grabbed his staff with both hands and swung with all his might. The staff connected with his foes head with a force that could have been lethal to a human, but the his attacker was not human.

Harry stared in mixture of awe and fear at the beast he had batted aside. He could barely believe what his eyes were seeing; he recognised what it was of course; every child in the magical world had seen at least one picture of those things and that was exactly the problem. It should be impossible to see them in real life. The only place they belonged were 'The Summoner Conflict' sections in the history books.

Unfortunately no one told the create before him that as there was no denying the thing was very real and one thing was for sure the pictures did not do it justice. A skin so black it seems to suck all the light in, a chilling bone white skull like mask, red eyes that were almost as menacing as Voldemort's, and even more chilling was the dark shadow like substance that seem to ooze out of the creature.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen in the real world.

It was unnatural. An abomination. A Lesser Dog Demon. It shouldn't exist.

The demon shook it's head and snarled, seemingly ready to leap at him again, but Harry wouldn't let him. Without hesitation he brought his staff forward and snarled. ''Confringo!''

The spell made contacted moment later and Harry felt the heat of his explosion as smoke marred his vision. When the smoke cleared Harry was surprised there was nothing left.

'Well … that was surprisingly easy.' He thought before realizing that gut feeling hadn't left yet. In fact it had gotten significantly worse. A howl just as terrifying as that of a werewolf reached his ear and Harry jumped around seeking the source of the sound only to pale even further when he saw a small army of Lesser Demon Dogs heading straight toward him.

''Bollocks.'' He cursed as he swirled his staff in a ready position before being interrupted by a sound from behind him. Woodenly craning his head to look behind him Harry realized something out there must really hate him as suddenly a Major Scorpion Demon came crawling toward him, looking even more intimidating that the Dog Demons.

''Bollocks.''

* * *

 **Author notes:**

I know I had promised to update more often, but unfortunately stuff happened and I didn't have any time to write. I am finally moving out my parents home. Unfortunately a lot had to happen to my new home before it was remotely habitable let alone a place where I want to spent a good portion of my free time in. So for the last few weeks my life has consisted of sleeping, working and working on my house. I had at most an hour each day of 'free time' and I use those words very loosely because I was often way to tired to focus on anything. Fortunately I am almost finished and in two maybe three weeks I should have lot more free time to write.

Now as for this story; I outlined most of it after watching the first three volumes of RWBY, but I might incorporate character and plot elements of the new volumes if it fits. I am not completely happy with this chapter as most of it was written in 10-15 minutes writing sessions. So I will probably end up rewriting some of it when I have the time, but for now enjoy!


	2. The village

**Chapter 02: The village**

Harry Potter had faced some crazy creatures in the fifteen years he had walked the earth. Among other things he had faced at least seven distinctly different class five magical creatures, which was a designation the ministry stamped on all creatures that are impossible to train or domesticate and are known wizard killers. Weren't a huge dragon the freaking King of Serpents enough? Did he really have such rotten luck that he had to add genuine demons to the list?

His mind quickly flashed through everything he knew about those demons. Allegedly they had been summoned from a different plane of existence by a Warlock always only simply referred to as the Conjurer.

The demon's attacks more commonly known as the The Summoner Conflict led to an unprecedented (and temporary) cooperation between the varies magical communities and even some Muggle leaders as they did everything they could to stop what one author had described as 'an endless horde of nightmares' and equally importantly; run damage control when Muggles had seen to much.

The soulless creatures were strong and agile and there were different species and subspecies of demons. What else was there … oh right any and all new research into the demons or their summoning was strictly forbidden in all ICW countries and most of the rest of the world … and that was about it. Shit he really knew very little about them, did he?

Despite the situation Harry managed to maintain his composure. He may know very little about them, but as the dog demon from before had showed him they were hardly the invincible bogeymen the books often betrayed them as.

So with that in mind and a with an if it ain't broke don't fix it attitude Harry jabbed his staff at the (literal) bigger threat and repeated the curse he had previously used on the demon's brethren to devastating effects.

Confident in his victory and with more enemies approaching Harry started turning back to the other treat, but suddenly halted when from the corner of his eyes he saw the smoke that his explosion had caused to be ripped apart by none other than the Scorpion Demon, moving faster than before and looking downright pissed. More importantly it didn't have a scratch on it.

Harry's frowned. It looked like he might have to revise his opinion on just how dangerous those demons were. Now was not the time to think such useless thoughts however as the dog demons had nearly crossed the distance and were far to close for comfort.

Harry want to curse in frustration, wizard fought mid-to long range, the times he had faced foes that would blindly rush him were far and few in-between. Heck the only magic practitioners who did that were either insane or plain incompetent … except for those magical monks. Those had been awesome. Having quickly thought up a plan Harry made a wide sweeping move with his staff and unleashed a wide range banishing charm.

The result as expected was weak. At best this particular charm could launch a full grown human across a room, but he had diluted the power of his charm greatly to cover as many of his foes possible. It was weak, but it did what needed to be done.

The first line of charging demons stumbled, several outright falling to the ground as they lost their balance. A number of the dogs behind them crashed against the others, not being to deal with the sudden deceleration. A savvy one jumped over his brethren, but he managed to catch it mid-air with a levitation charm.

In any other situation the sight of a ferocious demon trying to move in mid air, making borderline erratic movement as it tried to move toward him would have been amusing, but that thing was surprisingly heavy and already he started to feel his grip on it started to slip. Not to mention the temporary stalled dog demons were already getting to their feet and the scorpion demon was still approaching.

Harry quickly barked an incantation and the floating demon was shot away as if fired by an extremely powerful canon. Harry aim proved true as moments later it impacted against the scorpion demon. The force of the impact was so great that not only did the dog demon 'die' (or whatever they did when they dissolved), but the blow also managed to push the scorpion demon back a considerable distance.

Problem one: pushed back for the moment.

Problem two: far to close for comfort!

Despite the rather grim situation a grin that would have disturbed more than a few people started to form on his face as he started to rapidly backpedaled and moved his staff in a well practised movement.

Nothing seem to happen for a moment, but Harry was not worried. He had used the spell often enough to know nothing visibly was supposed to happen. After all fighting with magic was more than just throwing around spells with flashy effects.

Not even pausing to see if his charm was successful Harry continued moving back and aimed his attention toward a nearby tree. It was giant and perfect for what he was planning. With nothing more than a passing thought and a jab of his staff the decades old tree was severed from its roots. As gravity began to hold on the tree Harry fired another spell on it. Upon impact the transfiguration spell changed the shape of the top of three as the branches disappeared completely and the top itself turned into a point, turning tree in a pseudo spear.

He waited for another moment as he watched the tree turned spear fall in the most ideal position before he unleashed a charm that had previously proved to be rather successful. Like the demon before it the three shot away from him with a great speed.

The Scorpion had seemingly learnt his lesson and tried to dodge, but Harry´s improvised projectile was simply to fast to dodge for the large demon and his spear pierced through the demon´s body like a knife through butter.

Harry panted lightly, his last combo had been more taxing than he had expected, but at least it seem to have worked. For a moment Harry stared in horrified horror at what he had done. Demon the thing may be, but there was no denying it was rather gruesome sight. He couldn't even begin to imagine how painful impalement like that must feel … then again could demons even feel pain?

Not that it mattered right now as apparently he done enough damage to the demon as it suddenly dissolved causing the tree to fall down to the ground. Turning his attention back to the dog demons Harry raised an eyebrow in surprise at what he saw.

'That shouldn't be possible.' Harry thought in confusion as he watched the extremely slowly moving demonic dogs approaching his position. He had kept half an eye on them as he retreated from the position of both demons, but as they had moved so slowly he hadn't really noticed that anything was wrong with the dogs when he was busy with their scorpion brethren.

AS he watched them now however there was no denying that something was indeed very wrong. Instead of being bound to their position as the spell was supposed to do they were in fact moving. So slow that they really couldn't even be considered a threat, but moving none the less and that was to put it mildly problematic.

The spell he had used on them simply didn't work that way. It either worked or it did not there was no in-between. The spell would bounce of most magical creatures and any half competent magic user could simply use a non-verbal and wandless finite to end the spell, but those two were the only know way to counter the spells.

So how where those abominations moving? It was most definitely not magic. Those creatures would have simply shrugged of his spell if that was true. It was not raw physical strength either. According to the tome he had learnt the spell from the creator had tested his spell on numerous different kind of non-magical animals and none were able to escape it's grasp and Harry doubted strongly those dogs were stronger than an elephant; especially considering he had managed to bat away one of them earlier with his staff.

To be frank he had absolute no idea how they were doing it, but on the bright side at least he had learnt something; one of those demons species (assuming the thing hadn't been an anomaly) was at the very least ridiculously durable while the other species managed to slap years of spell research in the face and it was simply marvellous.

No he hadn't finally lost it and no he was not happy at all to be transported to … well wherever it was he had ended up and there was no denying those demons disturbed him even worse than the Dementors had, but on the other side some thing had been simply amazing!

Harry brought his staff forward again and unleashed several rapid cutting curses at the more or less immobilised targets. Fighting in the duelling tournaments had always been amazing experiences, but there was no denying there was always a slight hesitation in his moves. After all while witches and wizards were capable of incredible things they were still more or less human. One simply did not use certain kinds of magic against their fellow men … well most people didn't at least.

Harry held no such reservation towards harming those demons however. No hesitation. No second thought. Just simple instincts. Actions and reactions. A cumulation of countless hours studying and practising and there was denying it; it was a rush.

Just as important to his good mood however was the fact those things had proves something he had been saying for years; there was still so much to discover about magic. Able to bind anything non-magical to it's current location? Wrong! Just look at exhibit A to L … oh wait they were already disappearing. Meh who cared about the small stuff. The fact remained that they had disprove something countless people thought to be truth.

Harry suddenly frowned as he realised something. The sickening feeling he had since coming here hadn't disappeared when he had cut down the last demon. It wasn't as bad as before, but there was still a lingering feeling. For the first time since coming here Harry decided to take a good look around and was surprised at just how unremarkable the place really was.

Grass, large trees, and a couple rocks surrounded him. Was this really the battleground where the infamous boy-who-lived had slain a pack of demons? It seems kind of anti-climatic somehow. More importantly it also didn't help him find out where he was.

Harry grunted in annoyance as he fished what looked like a miniature broom from the pocket of his jacket. Looking back he was really glad he had decided to shrink it when he had arrived at the ministry instead of leaving it there in his rush to rescue his idiot of godfather.

He may not know where he was, but considering the sheer speed his broom could achieve he should be to reach a landmark of some sort sooner than later right?

With a touch of his staff it grew back to it's original size. With his staff in one hand and his now normal length broom in the other hand Harry allowed himself a moment to gaze at his broom fondly. If there was one thing he loved almost as much as studying and using magic then that would be flying.

No words could describe the sense of freedom he felt whenever he soared through the air. He had shared more than one uncomfortable conversation with Master Li as to why he found such joy in both duelling en flying … those had **not** been fun.

He appreciated his master's tutelage greatly, but the past was the past. No need to dig into it. His godfather at least understood … his godson liked flying? Let's give him the most expensive and powerful broom on the market! No need to look for ulterior motives.

Yes his godfather was an idiot.

Not that Harry truly minded the man had wasted what must have been a good portion of his very finite vault's content. Even if he could easily come up with a dozen or so things the money would have been better spent on. Even if the man had put far to much trust in the goblins not to rat him out. Even if it was probably a pretty irresponsible gift to give to someone who was for all intent and purposes nothing more than a casual flier. Harry could honestly say he did no mind. Why? Becomes flying on it was simply awesome.

He let go of it … and it unceremoniously dropped to the ground

Harry blinked owlishly at the broom lying in the grass. That was not supposed to happen. Lying there on the ground was not a mere school-broom. It was a freaking Firebolt! The moment he let go of it it should have hovered at just the right height for him to get on.

Hesitantly he placed his free hand over the broom and intoned. ''Up.'' Nothing, absolutely nothing happened. Harry frown deepened greatly as he crouched down to pick his broom up and it was then that he noticed something that nearly made his heart stop.

He hadn't really noticed it before because he wasn't paying action to it, but now that he was actually looking for some kind of fault he came to one very startling conclusion. There was no magic in his broom!

While he didn't have the same connection with his broom as he used to have with his wand and now had with his staff it really hadn't been that hard to sense the numerous enchantments on it . He had no idea what any of them did, but the feeling of different ´flavours´ of magic had always been there. Now however there was absolutely nothing. It felt like he was just holding a regular non-magical broom, a very nice looking broom maybe, but a non-magical one non the less.

How had this happened! His broom! His priceless broom was reduced to nothing more than a cleaning utility! Was he overacting? Maybe a little. After what was a mere broom after having fought creatures of legend? Nothing really. After all he could just buy a new broom when he got back home, but that was beside the point. Right here right now he was stranded who knows where thanks to the fact that somehow all the enchantments of his godfather's very first gift (that he could actually remember) had been stripped away.

'Wait … enchantments stripped away?' Harry thought with a panic as unceremoniously dropped the now useless broom and grasped the simple earring that adorned his right ear and cursed loudly when he didn't feel even the faintest trace of magic there either. Almost hesitatingly Harry tried to sense something from the ring he wore on his right middle fighter.

Gone. It was all gone. He couldn't care less about his earring; give him half an hour and he should be able to get it working perfectly again, but his ring. Four freaking years of effort. Gone! Wasted!

Suffice it to say Harry Potter was not happy. He could deal with a lot of things; one did not simply live the life he did without becoming rather adaptable to strange events happening around you, but learning that he had wasted hundreds of hours managed to destroy his good mood so badly then he ended up at the other end of the emotional spectrum; righteous anger.

As if summoned by his anger Harry suddenly realised he was no longer alone as a loud howl pierced the silence. Harry squinted his eyes to see through the darkness the slowly setting sun had provided as a feral smile graced his face. A wise man once said that violence is never the answer. Harry disagreed however as he was sure that annihilating those pest would do wonders for his mood.

After moment he saw them; more of those minor Dog demons and a couple more bulkier ones; Major Dog demons, they were called. He tried to count them; ten – twenty … holly hell even more were following behind them.

'Suddenly 'an endless horde of nightmares' sounds a lot less like exaggeration' Harry thought wryly as the seemingly endless mass of darkness approached him. His anger quickly dampened as the grim realisation of his current situation became apparent. He may have been pissed, but he was not suicidal.

Harry then nearly sank to his knees as a sudden feeling of nausea shook his body. Having dealt with far worse Harry was able to grit his teeth and with barely and hesitation he unleashed the most powerful fire based spell he had used.

The combination of sheer heat and the sudden loss of considerable amount of what remained of his dwindling magical reserve was almost enough to actually force him to his knees, but he managed to steady himself. Partially because again he simply had dealt with far worse and had always pushed his body to keep moving, but mostly it was the fact he still felt deadly ill and he had found what had caused it. Standing behind the fire was creature … no demon, bigger than even the scorpion he had previously faced. The combination of the flames and the darkening evening sky made it difficult to make out the exact shape, but the eyes … even from the great distance between him and the demon Harry could clearly see it's blood-red eyes and they were utterly terrifying.

At first glance they may not look any different than the other demons he had faced, but somehow Harry knew this creatures was different. While the others had looks of wild beasts; dumb, savage, aggressive, wild. This one was different. The thing was not looking at him as if he was a healthy snack, but rather like a hunter peering at it's prey. There was intelligence in those eyes; it was analysing him.

A shiver coursed through Harry's spine. Harry loved a challenge. He would be the last person to deny that, but that thing was **not** normal. His survival instincts were screaming at him to get away from that thing, but at the same he was frozen in place.

Eventually what felt like hours, but was probably only seconds the creatures broke eye contact and turned around, seemingly dismissing him. For a moment Harry was not sure whether he should be relieved or pissed for being seemingly dismissed like that, but those thoughts quickly gave way for some far more important; the fact he had started a forest fire and he was standing on the edge of it.

''Master Li is going to kill me.'' Harry thought as he quickly applied a flame-freezing charm on himself and surveyed the damage he had caused. The once green and serene landscape was burning and worse; it was spreading.

'This is not good.' Harry thought as he tried to come up with a solution. While the fire was no long able to hurt him the smoke was still more than harmful. Not to mention the fact he couldn't exactly let a forest burn down. Or could he? If this forest was infested by demons wouldn't it be better if it was cleansed?

No. He couldn't be certain how big this forest was and what his fire would affect if left unchecked. Sadly he only knew one way how to stop the already spreading fire on his own and he was not looking forward to it. Knowing there was no other choice however crouched down and traced a circle in the dirt.

'Stability.'

'Range.'

'Effect.'

'And power.'

With each word Harry traced a new set of runes in the circle as he formed a very basic magic circle to form a very basic ward. Over the years many people had improved on the designs of existing wards schemes; making them less taxing, more efficient, true masterpieces. The thing he had drawn in the dirt was not that. To put it bluntly it was an improvised piece of crap.

Harry simply did not have the knowledge nor the tools to create a proper fire-suppression ward, but thanks to his years of studying Arithmancy he at least knew how to build one without it exploding on him. Even it probably turned out to be an inefficient thing that wasn't worthy of being called a ward.

When he actually started pouring power in it he half expected that it would not work or worse explode regardless of the numerous runes stabilising the thing, but fortunately no such thing happened. Unfortunately he had been right earlier … it really was an inefficient piece of crap.

Harry was no stranger to magical exhaustion. While magic kept the body far healthier than a non-magical person; allowing them among other things live longer, be healthier and survive things no normal human should be able to, but there was one major downside; the body quickly began to rely on the magic and it did not react well to a lack of available magic. Harry could still easily remember the aftermath of his first tournament … that hadn't been fun.

Fortunately he was not quite there yet. His head may be killing him, but it hadn't reach the level of a 'Voldemort exposure level headache', his limbs may feel like they were made out of lead, but as he pushed himself up with the help of his staff he concluded that at least he could move them … barely.

As he stood Harry shook his head trying to lessen the pounding headache. The result were less than what he hoped for. Who knew shaking your head didn't magical cure a headache? When he actually did open his eyes again after several long seconds he was treated to a most wonderful sight that allowed him to forget his headache for a moment.

His circle might have been a shoddy piece of crap, but it clearly did it's job. As Harry watched as fire and smoke came speeding toward it to be absorbed he couldn't help, but stare in awe. Fire was dangerous humans have known this for a long, long time, but it could also be beautiful and as Harry watched fire coming from all directions colliding above him and being being absorbed in his circle he was mesmerised.

The distraction only lasted shortly as his circle was soon done with his job and Harry found himself surrounded by dead trees and scorched earth. ''Master Li is really going to kill me.'' Harry muttered as he surveyed the damage he done to his surrounding. Somehow it now looked even worse than it had when it was burning.

Unfortunately there was nothing he could do. Even if he wasn't close to being magically exhausted he simply had no idea how to fix this. He was sure someone like professor Sprout would have been able to do something, but Herbology had never really interested him.

Fortunately however it seems the fire had drove the demons away. He still felt sick, but he was pretty sure that was because his exhaustion and not because one of those things were nearby. Still it was probably better to get away from this place before he collapsed. He had the feeling that if that were to happen he wouldn't be opening his eyes again. So against the wishes of his protesting body harry began wobbling in a random direction while using his staff as in improvised walking stick.

XxX

''You have got to be kidding me!'' Harry growled irritably. He wasn't sure how long he had walked through the forest, but it had felt like hours as he was constantly on edge for incoming attacks. The fact that none had actually come was probably more nerve wrecking than an actual battle.

Then when he finally reached the end of the forest he some kind of small village with a wall around it. At first he had been relieved when he spotted the first signs of civilisation since coming here, but then he got a closer look. He now then why he hadn't been attacked in the forest… the demons were there.

For a moment Harry hesitated on what he should do. He had recovered enough of his magic that his body was responding to his commands correctly again, but extended combat was out of the question. Heck a short battle was probably also out of the question, but those were demons! There very existence felt wrong. How could he just let them do as they please? But on the other hand he could still remember those cold, calculating eyes and even now the mere memory made him shiver. He really didn't want to face anything like that again any time soon. It was then that screams started to pierce through the night sky and before his better judgement could stop him his impulsive side urged him to move.

He ran forward and as he drew closed he sported a large hole in the otherwise very sturdy looking wall. Without another moment of hesitation he quickly made his way over to it. As he climbed over the debris he was greeted to a sight of utter chaos. Several different species of demons were running around in an even greater number than he had faced before. People were running around, screaming, hiding … getting attacked.

Harry nearly lost his lunch when he saw one of those abominations tear in woman that was simply not fast enough to outrun the thing. He had seen some messed up things in his life, but never anything that gory. Harry swallowed as he tried to control his breathing. His grip on his staff tightening as he watched the horror that was happening before him.

He was no stranger to fighting.

He was no stranger to deathly situations.

He was however a stranger to situations where others died around him and it was not a pleasant new experience.

Harry then nearly lost the grip on his staff and his eyes then widened to the size of saucers as he saw something amazing. There were people actually fighting back! That alone was already pretty amazing, but the way how they did it was even more surprising. The first guy he had noticed had just casually decapitated the demon that had been mauling the woman. Not with a cutting curse no that would make to much sense. The man had done it with a freaking sword! Who in this day and age fought with swords? Let alone a thing that looked heavy enough that lifting it should near impossible let alone swing it around one handed. Unfortunately for Harry's sanity that was far from the only superhuman thing the man did. The man was fast, ridiculously so. Not Olympian athlete level of fast, but rather a blink and you loose track of him level of fast.

For a moment Harry watched in utter awe as the man moved through the demons cutting them down as if they were nuisances rather than threats. As his eyes adjusted to the speed Harry spotted three others also fighting. The three fightings like the man were blond. One was an older woman, probably an decade older than him and like the man she was a literally a blur on the battlefield. At least she was wielding a more reasonable weapon; a spear of some kind … even if the short glimpses he caught of it left him with the feeling that it was not exactly a normal weapon.

At least the last two were moving at a more reasonable pace … relatively at least. They, twins if his eyes were not mistaken were both moving at a pace that would make trained athletes jealous, but at least they weren't blurs. They were probably also the youngest of the group so that might explain it. The two both wielding a sword and shield worked well together from what he could see from the distance. Of course none of this information explained **what** those people were. Humans simply did not move that way. Even those monks at that monastery Master Li had taken him to had dedicated decades to training before they could move at supernatural speed and from what he had seen they had been nowhere near as fast as the man and the oldest female. So what were they? Vampires? Undead fighting Demons? It sounded like the premise of a bad movie, but what else could they be?

A cry of terror suddenly pierced his ears and Harry was rudely brought back to the here and now as it became rather clear to his eyes that whatever they were whatever there abilities might be it was not enough. The demons were being dispatched of like there were nothing, but there were a lot of them and unlike any rational combatant the demons seem to attack anything that moved instead of focusing on the bigger threats.

Harry cursed under his breath and not for the first time since stopping that forest fire Harry wished he could still rely on his ring, but sadly that was not possible and so he was going to do something more than a little stupid. And no he did not count fighting demons as stupid. Fighting them with barely any magical reserves, while protecting people he didn't know and with possible several vampires around on the other hand. Yeah that was probably not the smartest thing to do.

So why was he moving forward? He didn't know those people. He didn't care about them anymore than almost every other unknown people he passed on the street. Perhaps it was his teachings, perhaps it was his instinctive loathing towards those demons, perhaps it was a simply matter of pride. Harry did not know. In fact very few thoughts remained in his head as he moved almost completely on instinct.

Contrary to his last encounter with the demons Harry could not simply cut loose. The last thing he wanted was to hit someone he wanted to save with a stray cutting curse so that meant he had to get close to those demons. Not to mention the fact that he simply did not have the magic for anything even remotely taxing. So that means he had to get close and was restricted to some very low-tier magic. As such the next few minutes proved to be both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

It was nerve-racking seeing those thing so close. Knowing that a wrong move, an action taking just a bit to slow could mean the end for him, but it was also so exhilarating! Every time he proved to be just a little faster, every time he managed to escape death and saved someone in process Harry felt a rush of energy that allowed him to ignore his aching body.

The people themselves surprised them. Yes they looked scared shitless. Yes at first glance they were everything Harry hated seeing, but in heat of the battles Harry saw things that made him thinking they weren't as he weak as he had originally assumed. People who fell to the ground weren't trampled over, but pulled (and often dragged) onto there feet, adults and teens were running while carying children even if they would probably have a higher chance if they just dropped them and despite all the chaos all of them seem to be heading the same direction; some kind of study looking building those twins were fighting in front.

'Just because someone is weak doesn't mean they can't be strong.' Master Li's words echoed in Harry's head as he jumped from a claw swipe from one demons while at the same time cutting down another one who had set it's sights on a elderly couple . In in instant the demon was vanquished and Harry was able to focus on his own survival which he ensured by launching his attacker at an other nearby Dog Demons; destroying them both.

Despite the situation Harry smiled. People had pleasantly surprised him. He was still alive (always a plus) and … he saw something that killed his good mood so swiftly a Dementor would have been envious. It seems not everyone was moving or being moved. There only a dozen or so meters away from him was a small child, crouching in a position that was all to familiar, her head was pressed against her legs in what no doubt an attempt to shut the word out as her arms held them close to her.

Again Harry cursed as he abruptly tried to make his way toward her. Unfortunately there were more than a few Demons between him and the little girl . He cursed again as he noticed at least one of them wasn't focusing on him, but on her. 'Move!' he wanted to scream, but he knew that would be pointless so he started running. The first demon went down, the second soon followed, but then just as there was only one demon left standing between him and his target time had officially ran out as the final demons had already raised his claw for the devastating strike.

''No!''

Almost in slow motion Harry watched as the claw descended. It was simply impossible. He could not get past his demon and hit the other demon before it struck. Or Rather it should have been impossible. Fortunately where there is a will there is magic. He wasn't sure what happened, but one moment he was desperately trying to move forward and the next the felt like his whole body got squeezed together and the next thing he knew he was standing face to face with a snarling demon. Only it was not the one he had been trying to get past, but rather the would be killer of the girl.

If he had been more coherent he would have wondered exactly how he had used a branch of magic that he wouldn't be taught for another year. If he had been thinking clearly then he would probably be dead because what he did next was so pure instinct that if someone where to ask him later how he did it he wouldn't be able to repeat it. His staff moved blocking the claw before it could hit. He then slammed the but end of his staff in the creature's face. It stumbled back for a moment or two, more daze than anything, but that was enough as he Harry spun his staff around and pointed with the front of it towards his would-be victim and unleashed the most powerful banishing charm he knew.

The effects were instantaneously. Not only was the demons launched away before slamming into Harry's past foe, destroying them both, but Harry himself also collapsed as his legs could no long support his weight. Harry panted heavily as his vision slowly started to go dark. Neither the Apparition nor the banishing charm had been low-tier magic and his body was clearly paying the price. A face appeared before him. It was blurry, but he recognised it; it was the girl, she was safe, that was good. Harry's eyes drooped before he forced him open again. The girl was still there her peculiar shade of grey coloured eyes showed a range of emotions he wouldn't have been able to decipher even on a good day as tears streamed down her face. She was saying something, but his brain wasn't registering any sounds. ''Don't worry I am fine.'' He wanted to say, but talking was also out of the question.

His vision went dark again and when he was able to force them open again he was looking up at the night sky. 'Huh.' He thought through his haze filled mind. 'I didn't know magical exhaustion could cause delusions.' Stars filled the sky alongside the moon. Nothing wrong there. Well except for the fact that it looked like an explosion had happened on the moon. A decent chunk was gone and debris was floating around it. 'Delusion. Definitely a delusion.' Harry concluded as his eyes shut for the final time as he was unable to stay awake any longer.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

First of all I am looking for a BETA. Preferably anyone who has seen the shows and/or is familiar with the Harry Potter franchise.

Secondly I have had several PM asking me questions about this story and I have decided to answer some of them.

 **When is this story set?**

This story starts late in Harry's fifth year (1996 making him 15) and several months before the first volume of RWBY.

 **How strong is Harry?**

This Harry is stronger than canon Harry, but not by much. I have tried to write him where he is at a level where he can survive in the world of RWBY, but not so strong that he becomes a story breaker. How effective he is in combat also depends greatly who/what he faces. After all as Harry himself stated he is mid/long range fighter (with some limited Close-Quarters Combat) so he would have it easier against a slower, but stronger character (like Yang) than against a fast one (Like Ruby).

 **Is this set in Canon?**

No and no. As most people probably already noticed this is not canon!Harry. That does not mean this is a completely OOC Harry, but there will be some major differences.

As for the RWBY verse; also not completely canon. This has more to do with the world-building aspect of the RWBY verse than the characters, but there will be changes.

 **Pairings:**

I have already stated this (but I still got questions about this.) the pairings are **undecided.** Right now I have three potential pairings in mind. One of them is centred around Harry's development as a character (and I am more inclined to go with this choice) while the other two are more centred around plot development, but again at this point it is undecided.


	3. Meeting the Arcs I

**Chapter three: Meeting the Arcs I**

Sleep was a luxury Harry Potter had come to greatly enjoy since entering the magical word. During schooldays he usually had to get up early, but on the weekends he always enjoyed the extra hour or two he was allowed to lie in. As a result his mind wasn't all that keen to start to do anything even remotely productive even if his body was coming out of his slumber.

Slowly but surely information started to get processed. He was in a bed. A warm and very comfortable bed. 'Time to get back to sleep.' Harry sleep addled brain decided and he was about to do just that before he realised something else. This was not his bed. It was comfortable for sure, but it was not the one in his dorm. Nor was he in a bed in the Hospital Wing.

He opened his eyes and after blinking several times to get used to the light Harry stared at the ceiling above. 'Definitely not in the dorm.' Harry concluded feeling oddly calm despite not knowing where he was. Maybe it was because his body felt so heavy that he really didn't want to do anything or maybe it was just his hazy state of mind.

Even in his current state of mind Harry was able to do some basic reasoning. If he didn't know where he was than he should try to remember what happened before it. Eventually that train of though should lead to his current location right?

'Let's see … there was that dream, no vision, he had been awake. Had it been in the afternoon? Yes during one of Binns's classes … okay he might have been asleep. So there was the vision/dream. His idiotic flight to the Ministry. The Death Eaters!' Harry blinked several times as more and more information came to the forefront. Had he really fought Death Eaters? Not only fought, but bested several of them and survived against the rest? Yes, yes he had.

What else had happened? He had been forced to retreat. There was that room and a giant magical array … it was some kind of transportation spell. He was forced to a forest and … Harry's mind screeched to halt as an image of a savage beast suddenly filled his mind; demons, he had fought demons.

Against the wishes of his protesting body Harry shot up his mind suddenly clear as the full extent of his misadventure came back to him. Forget surviving against Death Eaters. Demons! Freaking Demons! How the heck had he survived against that? No better question how where they even here? Or an even better question was; how had no one known about this? Say what you want about the general competence of the magical governments the world over one thing they excelled at and that was keeping the supernatural world a secret.

Even as technology marched on. Even as countless idiotic people with superiority complexes had drawn way to much attention to their world. Even with countless Muggle parents and partners being told that the world was much larger than they could ever hope to realise the truth was never spread to the general public. Why? Because magicals were very good at hiding themselves and had only gotten better over the centuries.

So it was simply impossible not a single government hadn't detected those demons … or him fighting for that matter.

'Wait, fighting?' Harry thought as he suddenly realised his memories extended beyond that forest. 'What the hell was I thinking?' Harry wondered as he remembered a whole string of bad decisions which had ultimately led to him falling unconscious in the middle of a demons infested hellhole with a bunch a vampires running around. 'Really what the hell was I thinking?' Harry thought as his hand subconsciously drifted to his neck. To his relief he didn't find any blemishes and he allowed himself to relax a little as he took in the room.

It was rather obviously a bedroom of some kind, not very big and crammed pretty full with different kinds of furniture, but he paid very little mind to those as his eyes had caught sight of something far more important. Without hesitation Harry strode forward and grabbed hold of his staff which had been resting against a nearby wall. As soon as he reclaimed his foci Harry experienced a familiar warmth he hadn't even realised he had been missing.

Unfortunately it also made him realise just how pitiful his current reserves were. No that was wrong. It was not that his reserves were pitiful; they had hours to recover after all, but rather it was his body that was still clearly recovering from the magical exhaustion and a large chunk of his magic was being diverted to heal him. Considering how bad he felt and how much of his magic was being diverted he really did not want to know in just how bad a condition his body was.

'At least two day's of observation and a no magic for at least a week!'

And now he was hearing Pompfrey's voice in his head. Either he had hit his head when he had collapsed or he had simply spent so much time in the Hospital Wing that he knew what she was going to say without her needing to be there to say it. Still 'her' words held merit. Magical exhaustion was not something he could simply brush of. The last thing he wanted was damaging his core. So if possible he should probably try to not use magic for a couple of days … at least one.

Feeling more confident now that he he had his staff back in his grasp Harry continued to scan the rest of the room and noticed some of the things he had missed before. There was a simple wooden door without anything resembling a lock and an window that looked like it could be easily opened (even if it looked like he wasn't on the ground level as he saw the top of some tree through the window). Those two facts combined with the fact that they left his staff with him and didn't restrain him in any matter made Harry think whoever brought him here was if nothing else not hostile towards him.

Close to him were also a small desk with a chair in front of it. On the chair was very familiar jacket. He picked it up, but didn't put it on just yet. To do that he would need to let go of his staff and while he didn't get the feeling someone was trying to harm him (not at the moment at least) he still didn't really felt confident letting go of his foci. Not to mention the fact that after all that chaos of last night … it was last night wasn't? He really hoped he wasn't out for more than a couple of hours. Anyway after all that fighting and that intense heat his little 'camp fire' had provided had left him a sweating mess and whoever had put him in bed had only removed his jacket and shoes (which he noticed where standing next to the bed) before pulling the covers over him so to put it mildly his clothes were smelling less than stellar and he really did not want to subjugate his beloved jacket to close contact with it. He was almost tempted to just say screw it all and clean both himself and body with magic, but managed to restrain himself. There were a number of things he was willing to break his self imposed promise not to use magic for at least a day for. Most of them had to do with his continued survival and sadly personal hygiene had little to do with that.

His attention then fell on a rather large photo frame that stood amids several smaller one on the desk. The reason for it's size was rather apparent as whoever had made the picture had crammed a decent number of people in it; some very familiar people in fact. Harry couldn't believe his bad luck as spotted a very familiar giant of a man featured rather prominently in the middle of the group photo. Harry's grip on his staff tightened as he let go of his jacket to grab the picture frame to get a closer look. The up close inspection confirmed his fears; there on the picture was the man he had previously labelled as a vampire and considering the picture was here then there was a decent chance the man was also here.

Something did not add up however. While he had never the displeasure of meeting those bloodsuckers what he did know about them did not paint them as people who would pose for a family photo and there was no denying the people in the picture were a family. The family resemblance was simply impossible to miss. The giant had blue eyes instead of the blood red vampires were known for. An eye colour he shared with a young woman he was pretty sure was that spear wielder from last night, those sword and shield twins (even if they looked younger than he recalled) a young man around his age (or at least around his age when the picture was taken) and two other females he was pretty sure were also the man's daughters.

So if none were vampires than what were they?

Human shaped demons?

Fae?

The result of secret government experiments?

The first sounded ridicules (but probably not impossible). The second sounded equally impossible as there hadn't been confirmed sighting of a true fairy in decades. The third … well that sounded more like something that fourth year Lovegood would sprout; amusing, but unlikely.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on one's point of view the answer to some his questions was closer than he thought as suddenly the door was opened and in walked the very man Harry did not want to see just yet and it was only with considerable effort that he managed to restrain himself from aiming his staff at the man, the very big man. As Harry quickly placed the photo back down. AS Harry took in the man's appearance he couldn't help, but notice the man was **not** what he was expecting even after seeing him in the picture.

Again he had never met a vampire and even though he had serious doubt the man was one a part of his brain had still build an image of it in his head and it was difficult to let go of it; tall, lanky, pale, blood red eyes and with an aura of menace surrounding him. This was what he had imagined. The man standing before him was the opposite from what he had imagined. He was tall yes, but far from lanky, he was tanned instead of pale, his blue eyes were warm and all in all it was hard to connect this man to the figure he had seen fighting the day before. The man looked so … so Hufflepuf! For the love of all that was holy the man wearing a apron! An apron with World's Greatest Dad on it!If it wasn't for the fact the man was still towering over him and looked buff enough that he wouldn't look out of place in one of the weird cartoons Su so enjoyed where everyone was always ridiculously ripped for no reason than Harry might have seriously started question his judgement in terms of threat assessment.

Harry swallow as he was forced to crane his head up to make eye contact with the rather imposing man. 'Don't show fear. Don't show fear.' He mentally chanted as he tried to stand as confidently as he could. How well that went was up to debate, but at the very least the man didn't seem to notice his unease as a broad smile appeared on his face. ''Ah your awake.'' He said. ''I though I heard something and lo and behold I find our honoured guest already up and about.''

Harry blinked as he processed the words - English - that was good. His skill in foreign languages was weak at best. His weeks at the Temple had taught him bits and pieces of Master Li's and Su's native language and other than that he knew more than a few insults in foreign languages (he had been curious what some people in the ring had called him) and had picked up a couple of words when he had researched foreign magics. Non of those things would have been very useful in an conversation.

Of course the fact he could converse with the man did not actually make it easier to do so. What should he say? What could he say? Was he allowed to mention magic. Was he allowed to talk about the Department of Mysteries? Should he ask where he was or did that look suspicious? Should he ask what the man was … no at the very least that would probably a very bad idea. All those thoughts crossed his mind in a near instant and still he was left indecisive, but fortunately for him the man continued the rather one-sided conversation.

''How are you feeling?'' The man asked with a tone of voice Harry could only call concerned. ''When we found you collapsed we figured you suffered from Aura depletion, but I am afraid we don't have the medical equipment necessary to check. We have called for help, but I am afraid it hasn't arrived yet.''

'Well that clarified absolutely nothing.' Harry thought as he hadn't the faintest idea what aura was. In the context it might be what this man called magic, but somehow he doubted. Still when in doubt fall back to what works.

''I am fine.'' He answered before realising that those words actually never worked as they tended to be ignored by whatever Healer got their clutches on him.

The man laughed as if he had heard some good joke. ''That's great to hear!'' The man exclaimed happily and Harry had to admit that it got harder and harder to connect this man to the fighter of the night before … well other than the size; that was still intimidating as hell.

Suddenly the man put his hand forward and again Harry was forced to suppress his instincts. For a moment Harry only stared at the outstretched hand. He did **not** want to shake hands with a man that looked like he could crush his entire hand. 'Manners, Harry' a familiar voice chided him. 'Screw you, master.' Harry thought not even fully realising he was mouthing of to memory his own brain had dragged up Still despite his reservation he moved his hand forward to accept the handshake. Contrary to what he had expected the man did not break every bone in his hand, but merely gave him a firm handshake ''Nicolas Arc, at you service.'' The man said before giving him a more serious look. ''And I mean that literally . If there is anything you want, anything and it is within my power to give it you than you only need to ask. I .. the Arc family owns you a debt we can never repay you.''

Debt? What debt? Harry wondered before he remembered a pretty familiar face he had seen on that picture. ''I hope your daughter is okay.'' He said in response hoping he had been right and didn't make an absolute fool of himself.

''Yes, she fine better than fine in fact.'' His sunny disposition back full force. ''A bit shaky, but that is to be expected after such a close encounter with a Beowolf .''

Beowolf? Was that was they were calling that species of demons? He had to admit if nothing else it was less of a mouthful than Minor Dog Demon. Still only shaken? The girl, a mere child was nearly killed by a demon and she was merely shaken? He was no Mind Healer, but he was pretty sure traumatised for life would be the more appropriate response. Still if she was fine then she was fine he guessed. ''You own me nothing.'' He eventually decided to reply. ''If you have power than you should protect those still to weak to protect themselves.'' All things considered his words were probably not the wisest thing to say as having someone as powerful as this man in his debt might prove useful as he was still in such an unknown situation, but he wasn't willing to compromise on this. Children should be protected no questions asked.

The man laughed again seemingly pleased with his words. ''Spoken like a true Hunter!'' The man exclaimed and again the man threw out a word that Harry was not familiar with. Yes he knew what a hunter was, but Harry was pretty sure the man was not talking about any of the definitions of the word Harry was familiar with. ''Still regardless of your reason we owe you a debt and a Arc remembers his debts.''

Harry inwardly shrugged at the man's response. Just as he had his convictions so did the man apparently. He had better things to do than argue with the man over this. ''How long was I out?'' He decided to ask deeming it a 'safe' enough question for someone who had apparently fallen unconscious due to 'aura depletion'. Anyone would want to know how long they were out cold wouldn't they?

The man thought over it for a moment before answering. ''Somewhere around twenty hours I think.'' He answered much to Harry's shock. ''By the way we didn't find a scroll on you so we didn't know who to contact, but do you have someone you want to contact?''

Scroll? What scroll? Again with a familiar word that Harry was sure he and the man had completely different definitions of. Still how should he answer the man. 'Yes, please contact the nearest Ministry of Magic; you have an demon invasion on your hands?' Yeah that was probably not a good idea. ''That's not necessary. I don't have anyone to contact.''

Apparently that was the wrong answer as the man frowned and Harry felt himself tense. ''You don't?'' He questioned. ''You have no one that needs to know where you are?''

The sudden serious tone made Harry realise he said something stupid, but he wasn't sure what and it was not like he could fix it so he just nodded.

The man studied him for a moment longer before he settled on. ''If you say so.'' He said before an easy smile returned to his face, but to Harry it looked a bit forced. ''Now, Mr …'' the man trailed of clearly waiting for Harry to introduce himself.

Knowing that not saying something was a bad idea was a stupid idea he said the first thing that came up to him … which in hindsight was also a pretty stupid idea. ''Black, James Black.'' Harry felt like slapping himself repeatedly as those words left his lip. Yes until he knew exactly where he was it was probably not in his best interest to advertise he was the Boy-Who-lived, but using a fake name that consisted of his father's first name (and his own middle one) and his godfather's last name? The only fake name that could have been worse if he had picked his mother's maiden's name and called himself James Evans.

Unbeknown to Harry's inner turmoil the man nodded. '' Mr Black,'' He continued. ''You said you were feeling fine and while I am sure you are in fact feeling better I can see you are still rather exhausted. While I of course won't hold you against your will I strongly suggest you return to that bed and rest some more.''

How did one diplomatically say 'Hell no!'? To be frank Harry wanted to get as far away from this man as possible. While he was pretty sure the man did not want to do him harm (at this time) he couldn't shake the feeling the longer he stayed here the bigger the chance something was going to go very wrong, but on the other hand. He was not wrong. He needed rest, needed time to recover and since he had no idea where he was where else could he recover?

''Please.'' The man said. ''I am in your debt and I can't in good consciousness allow you to head outside as your are now. I owe you a debt I can never repay and I don't know your circumstances and if you don't want to talk about it then that is fine, but please let me at least make sure you are in a state where you can defend yourself before you step out of my house.''

Harry eyes narrowed. What was the man thinking? There was a hidden meaning in the man's word Harry did not fully grasp. Still he could feel his legs were starting to have trouble supporting his weight; for better or worse he really needed to rest and what was that saying? Better the devil you know?

''Thank you for the offer. I think I will take you up on it.´´

XxX

It was only a couple of minutes since the man had left and Harry had to admit it was pretty strange to lie in a bed that was not his own, but there no denying it was comfortable and soothing to his aching body and to be honest he had a lot to think about so he decided not to think to much of it.

A strong part of him practically screamed at him to get of his lazy ass and find out what the heck was going on he manged to suppress that train of thought and look at it more rationally. Last night he had acted on impulse. It was not a bad move when time was short and there was little time for elaborate planning, but as he was recovering there was no need for impulsive actions now. Hell acting impulsive now would probably do more harm that good.

What did he know? What didn't he know?

He was brought here by a ritual preformed in the Department of Mysteries, the single move secretive branch of the government if he remembered correctly they called it the Magbob Solution. He still had no idea what that was, but now that he had time to think about it he was pretty sure he he heard the term Magbob somewhere before.

The ritual was bigger than anything he had seen before and even if he had time to study instead of the mere glimpse he had seen of it he was not confident he could reverse engineer it. The magic surrounding space and time had always sounded fascinating, but at the same ridicules complex and dangerous. He had planned to start studying it several years down the line after he had mastered some of the more basic forms of magic. After all he had all the time in the world to study it … or so he thought. Not to mention how utterly fickle rituals could be.

There might be some clues to be found at his point of arrival, but he had little hope. While he could sense magic the exact nature of what it did often still eluded him. Not to mention this would mean he would have to go back to that Forrest not something he was all that keen on doing.

What other avenues did he have?

He hadn't been alone in that room. Four Death Eaters had been pursuing him and one of them had shouted at the others to get away. Did that mean he knew what the room did? A more important question was of course whether they were also transported here. The ritual had been activated almost as soon as the man had shouted his warning so they should have been caught as well, but if they were then why hadn't they arrived in the same place as he had? Call him arrogant, but he was pretty sure at least one of them would prioritise him over the demons.

So if they had been caught in the ritual, but hadn't been sent to the same place did that mean they were send somewhere else?

Was going in a demon infested Forrest to search for clues or track down a group of people that wanted to capture him really his only two options?

Harry sighed and trying to clear his mind he scanned the room again. There was the door that would ultimately lead to the not-vampire, there was a window where he would no doubt break his legs if he left through that and that was not an experience he wanted to experience again, a desk with pictures he had already looked overs, a closet that didn't look all that interesting, several posters about what he guessed where movies, but the names didn't ring any bells and then there was a bookcase.

Now that he admitted did interest him. How could it not? He desperately wanted information and there right next to the desk was a bookcase filled with books that were hopefully filled useful information. Was it rude to sniffle through another person's bookcase? Possibly. Was it a dumb idea to potentially piss of a group of not-vampires just to sate his own curiosity? Probably, but as they say you only live once right?

Expectedly ignoring his protesting body Harry pushed himself up again. The short rest only seem to have made him feel worse, but he ignored it as he wobbled over to the desk. Steading himself on the chair Harry scanned the titles in the nearby bookcase. The first two rows seem to be filled with some kind of comic called X-ray and Vav? He had never heard of it, but comic books were never his thing to begin with to begin so that wasn't surprising. The rest of the bookcase was filled with actual books and Harry soon pulled out his first target.

''World of Renmant.'' He read the title before opening it starting leafing through it. 'What the … ' Harry thought in confusion as his brain absorbed the various maps the book contained. None of them looked even remotely familiar and the one that looked like it must be the world map didn't even remotely resemble earth. 'Must be fictional' He eventually concluded as he returned the book to his place on the shelve before selecting a new book. This process was repeated for some time with Harry now taking the time to sit on the nearby chair with each book to spare his legs.

Some time later Harry had finished the last interesting book and he was staring with a dazed look out of the room's only window. As much as he would have loved to say that whoever owned this room had one hell of fiction book collection the sight of the night sky had brought back a memory he had apparently blocked out. He could ignore a lot of things, but the sight of a broken moon reminded him he might be in a lot more trouble than he originally thought.

''Where the hell am I?''

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

About the Arc family: I know I said I was going to stick pretty close to RWBY canon, but I have decided to make an exception for this. While to the best of my knowledge the show has never told us whether any of Jaune's direct family is an huntsman/huntress I am pretty sure they aren't. In the show we know that Jaune knows little to nothing about Hunters (he didn't even know what Aura was) which means he has received neither training from his family nor gone to a combat school. In one episode Jaune tells Pyrrha that his parents had told him not to worry if he was forced to come home. Thanks to that we know Jaune's parents known that Jaune is at beacon. If they really had been huntsman/huntress then they would have known he wouldn't even be allowed to enrol in Beacon since they would have known he had no training.

On an unrelated note I recently broke my own promise not to watch the new season/volume of RWBY (I was going to wait until it was finished because I hate waiting for a new episode) and I have to say I regret nothing. The new season was pretty epic so far. Everything looks better; the fighting is even better and the Grimm are really starting to look like threats, the world is getting darker, but they still manged to sneak in some moments of levity and most importantly so far almost nothing has been revealed that has contradicted what was in my outline for this story.

The only real problem I have with this season is the number of plot lines that are going on at the same time. There is one for each RWBY girl, one for Salem's faction and there are several others, but at least they are linked to the plot-lines of the RWBY girls. Don't get me wrong I love multiple plot lines I only hope the show doesn't end up like certain other shows where certain plot-line are ignored for numerous episodes because they had to finish an other plot line first. So far they have done it pretty well so I can only hope for the best.

My only other concern is Salem. To me before watching volume 4 she was the epitome of evil in the RWBY universe. An 'person' that only looked human, but was really something else. A cold and apathetic person that only cared for the end result. A person we would only get to see glimpses of. Her motives and goals only to be speculated at, but then we are shown multiple meeting with her subordinates, we are shown her displaying anger and it kind of disappointed me. Not greatly, but it was still kind of disappointing

Finally I wish you all a happy new year and I hope to see you back in 2017!


	4. Meeting the Arcs II

**Chapter four: Meeting the Arcs II**

For the first time in a long, long time Harry Potter felt complete and utterly baffled. He could deal with a lot of a strange things. Hell he had already dealt with a lot of strange things, but this … this was a ´Harry you are a wizard´ level of bizarre and unlike then was no friendly giant by the name of Hagrid to explain things to him, no trip to the bookstore, no convenient invitation to a school that could offer him all he needed to learn.

Well to be fair there was a giant … vampire … Huntsman! Yes that was what the man was. Probably at least; the few time the word was mentioned the informations was infuriatingly vague. Really would it kill whoever lived in this room to have a dictionary? There were also books, but the small bookcase was a bit lacking in compared to the vast assortment of Flourish and Blotts.

Don't get him wrong there was some really useful information, but ultimately he was left with far more questions than answers?

Where was he? Still no idea.

What was the non-vampire? A Huntsman! What was a huntsman? Someone who fought Grimm aka demons using Aura and Dust. What were those two things? No idea. Seriously again was it to much to ask to have a dictionary in the room?

How where there demons around? The closest answer he got to that was that they had simply around since the dawn of humanity. Harry called bullshit on that however. What? Did a bunch of caveman fight and survive against a demon horde? No only that, but both humanity and the Demons were still around after centuries? Centuries of conflict without either side annihilating each other? Well to be fair he had know idea what timescale he was working with as he hadn't found anything resembling a history book and that was certainly a damn shame because it might have helped him understand his next question a bit, but considering what he had seen so far humans had to be around for centuries at least right?

Were the maps real? It hadn't resembled anything he was familiar with, but from what little he remembered from his pre-Hogwarts years the world hadn't always looked like it did now and it had drastically changed over the centuries, but he recalled very little of those lessons and he wasn't sure if the earth could ever turn into what he had seen on the maps.

All those questions were plaguing him, but the most prominent of them all right now was; 'What happened to the moon!' Harry stared aghast out of the window at the celestial body. While he held no special like or dislike for the thing seeing it partially destroyed send chills down Harry's body. It was the moon. The freaking moon. It was a constant fixture in the night sky. No matter how many centuries passed. No matter how many conflicts are waged. The moon was always unblemished.

How?

Who?

 **Why?**

 **WHEN?**

That last question especially got stuck in his head. When was the moon partially destroyed?

Again he had no time-line to work with, but something was seriously messed up. The map looked wrong, but he acknowledged that **might** happened after centuries of … what was it called again continental drift? The moon was damaged something that had definitely not happened in the past and demons had apparently been around since the dawn of recorded history. Did that mean the ritual had sent him in the future? A future where a lot of history was lost? For a normal human this might be an absurd thing to even consider, but he was a wizard to him it was a very real possibility.

No scratch that that theory did not make any sense. Despite the differences this place was to similar. They had forests that looked like a regular forest, the humans **looked** human, they apparently made comic books and movies, but most importantly they spoke modern English.

Leaving aside the fact that it was highly unlikely humans would still look the same after centuries of evolution. There was absolutely no chance the people would still speak (what he considered) modern English. So if the ritual hadn't send him forward in time then where had it send him?

He was not at any place on earth in the present or the past. The moon alone made that impossible. He was probably also not at any place on earth in the future as he had previously reasoned.

So if he was no transported to someplace on earth at some point in the past, present or future than that could only mean … Harry blanched. 'No, no, no. That is **not** the only logical alternative.' Harry scolded himself. 'I am not on freaking alien planet!' there must have been something he had missed.

After all no matter what the movies may say it was highly unlikely that even if there was (relatively) intelligent life out there they probably wouldn't look like humans or speak English for that matter.

Then another thought struck him. The Conjurer supposedly had summoned the demons from a different plane of existence. What that mean the books were rather vague about; a world that did not exist, but that did exist? What did that even mean? Or the world that was like ripples in a pond? It was like they were trying to vex future readers with their infuriating vagueness.

One thing was for sure though the term 'Different plane of existence' had remained constant. Not once did they refer to it as a different planet. So what did that mean? Well he knew that their were places that supposedly existed parallel to earth. Like the home of the Fae or the birthplace of the elven race.

Much information had been lost on either of those subjects, but from what Harry had read and more importantly understood those places existed, but not in their universe and could only be accessed by long sealed portals. If universe was the same as a plane of existence and that ritual had been a substitute for one of those portals then this might very well be very similar.

Again space and time magic was confusing at the best of times, but it should be possible right? After all if the Conjurer had summoned the demons from their plane of existence than it should stand to reason a ritual could be devised that did the opposite …

Harry blanched again. Forget aliens! Was he in the home-world of the demon race?

The images of last night and the view he was seeing now made him wonder thought. If some kind of demons world existed wouldn't it be a more hellish looking place and again this theory did nothing to explain why English speaking humans were around.

Regardless of where or when he was there was another rather worrying thing he had discovered or rather what he hadn't discovered. None of the books mentioned magic in any way. While Muggles have foolishly long since stopped believing in the miracle that was magic enough reference could still be found if you knew where to look. While they had become nothing more than myths and legends magic was still firmly entranced in earth's literature.

While he hadn't read every of every book from what he skimmed he hadn't seen anything close to what could be considered magic. If he was in the future had magic died? Had all traces of it disappeared? Or if his other theory was correct did that mean there was no magic in this plane of existence or whatever it was called and were he and the Death Eaters (assuming they were here) the only ones with magic?

Harry had to admit this latest train of thoughts was both equally terrifying as well as exhilarating.

A lot of magic had become obsolete over the centuries. Sometimes it was because something better had been devolved, but more often than not it was because protections and counters had been developed and as a result a lot of what he had learnt had no real practical applications because it was so easily countered (if it worked at all). So if no magic existed here than his repertoire had suddenly grown considerably … but so had the Death Eaters.

As much as he hated to admit it there was a distinct chance one if not all of them was more knowledgeable in the magical arts then he and to have them suddenly have access to an even wider arsenal of dark magic was frankly rather terrifying.

Even more terrifying was the sudden realisation there was no Master Li, no Hogwarts (or any other magical school), no Ministry of Magic, no nothing, but on the other hand … there was also no Statute of Secrecy.

Don't get him wrong he fully understood why magic was hidden from the world. Muggles, no humans in general were not the most accepting kind of people. For every five people that would be friendly/indifferent to the wizarding world if it was ever revealed there would be at least two that would be downright hostile (and that was probably a very generous estimate) and considering the prideful nature of magic users in general a bloody conflict was simply inevitable.

So logically he knew full well why the Statue existed, but at the same time Harry had always resented that he had to hide the best thing that had ever happened to him. Magic was not something to be ashamed of so why did they have to hide? He was not a supremacist. He did not believe that magic users were better than Muggles, but at the same time he also did not believe Muggles were better than magic users so why were they the ones that had to hide their amazing gifts?

But if there were no ministries of magic here, if there was no Statue of Secrecy here did that mean he could use magic whenever he wanted?

He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

On one hand he knew he should be horrified. He had been transported somewhere with no idea how to get back; Demons, Grimm whatever they were called were roaming the land and had been doing that for a considerable time here. He had not to recently seen someone get brutally mauled to dead, a stranger yes, but still a rather gruesome sight, but despite all that he felt a rush of excitement coarse trough his entire body.

Despite the utter stupidity of the mere thought Harry suddenly felt like rushing out of the house and using magic whenever and wherever he wanted, not at all caring who saw him. Despite the sheer elation he felt at the thought his more rational side managed to crush that easily before he could do anything stupid. He had promised not to magic for at least a day after all. Not to mention he had no way of knowing how people here would react to magic. No. That wasn't important was it? If those Aura users were allowed to flaunt their gifts like that then there was no way he was going to hide his birthright and if anyone had a problem with that … well it wasn't like he was a helpless firstie.

'As soon as I have recovered at least.' Harry thought with a groan as his body made it clear it did not appreciate the fact he had forced it to stand again. It was honestly rather vexing, but there was little he could do so he wobbled back to the bed. Once he had made himself comfortable on top of the sheets, secured his staff next to him, closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift through all the information he had learnt.

How much time passed as he reviewed, re-reviewed and re-re-reviewed what little information he had he wasn't sure, but when he was forced out of his thoughts by the sound of someone knocking on the door he immediately noticed that the room had become considerably darker and that the sun no longer illuminated the room.

He did feel remarkably calmer. The excitement and anxiety were still very much there, but he had managed to push those feelings to the back of his mind. Their presence still constant, but they didn't rule him.

He had managed to make a mental list of his biggest priorities and with a clear goal in mind it was much easier to focus on what he did know instead of what he didn't know. Gathering information and finding a way home was still a major priority, but cold hard logic had made him aware there was something even more pressing.

Basic needs.

Something even he took for granted these days. Food and water, shelter, sanitation, education and clothing even in his youth those thing had been available to him (most of the time) and after entering the magical world it only got better, but here?

He had a roof above his head, but it was nothing permanent. He could build a shelter with magic, but nothing to grand and where he could he even do that? He could hardly built a shack in the middle of a village (or even the outskirts). Assuming the people here where at least somewhat similar to the ones he was familiar with then they wouldn't like kindly upon some random guy building his own home in their neighbourhood.

He could conjure water, but food was a big no-no. As some not so random bloke had proved centuries ago food could not be conjured, if you had some it could be multiplied, enhanced and generally be improved, but as the man proved at the end of the day even that mattered little.

As for sanitation? Well there were spells to keep one clean, but other than a shaving charm Sirius insisted he teach him (even though he barely grew any facial hair the man had insisted it was his sacred duty as his Dogfather) he had never bother to learn any. Why would he? Showers were rather enjoyable and it was not like he expected to be stranded somewhere without access to basic facilities. If worse came to worst then he could always conjure a bucket of water and douse himself with it.

Education? Well he was definitely not enrolled in any school here, but it might be something to look into when the more pressing matters were settled. After all what better place (other than a library) to gather information than a school?

Clothing? Well that one was more easy taken of. Transfiguring some basic clothing … very basic clothing was not outside his skill range and while he didn't know any spells to clean himself his clothes were another matter. It had been rather surprising that it wasn't much harder to completely clean clothes than it was to remove a simple food stain.

So for now he had organised his priorities and had a clear goal in mind. First and foremost he would try and find a source of food and water and a place where he could spent the nights. Secondly gather information where he was, how those non-vampires/Hunters could fight like that (and if he could learn it because that would be wicked and more than a little useful), if the Death Eaters where he and how to get home. Thirdly try to get his hands on whatever passed as money in these parts.

So with a plan clear in mind Harry had manage to reorganise the whirlwind that was his mind in something more productive and so without hesitation he bade whoever had knocked on the door to enter.

It took a moment, but then the door opened, slowly and most likely not by the giant from before. When the door was only slightly open a head peeked around the opening. Harry raised an eyebrow at who he saw.

It was the little girl that was partially responsible for his current state. Her grey eyes seem to brighten when she saw him and to Harry's surprise the man had been right before. She seem to be perfectly fine. When she saw him looking she smiled shyly at him showing him she was a missing tooth which he was not ashamed to admit (in the private confines of his own thoughts) made her look rather adorable.

Harry smiled back. Did it suck he was more or less powerless? Yes and that was putting it mildly. Was it worth it to see this instead of a corpse. Most definitely. Would he do it again knowing the outcome? Well no … if he knew what was going to happen in advance then the fight would have been much easier and he probably could have reached the same end result without getting hurt. Still did he regret it? Not in a million years.

The door was then further opened and Harry noticed the girl was not alone. Following behind her was another member of the fairer gender only this one was probably a decade or two older than the girl.

It took him less than a second to recognise the much taller blonde and when he did he indistinctly gripped his staff tighter and he felt his entire body tense. Standing there was another one of those inhuman fighters; it was the spear wielder. The fact that she wasn't actually carrying her weapon did very little to ease his mind. Again he was pretty sure those people didn't want to do him harm, but the fact that they could and there was very little he could do about it in such enclosed space (and with his magic at such low levels) made him feel incredibly tense.

Still like with the man before it was rather hard to see her as the monster he had seen fighting. In fact with her it was even more apparent as she was not build like a half-giant. To most seeing her without her weapon and dressed rather casually the woman looked rather perfectly normal, but to Harry who had encountered enough duellists and even couple of Muggle fighters it was impossible to miss the way she moved.

He wasn't even sure if the woman was even aware of it or if she just moved like that all the time, but from what he could see the way she moved allowed her to not only move forward faster, but also reach for something behind her, presumably the place where she normally kept her weapon. Which was a bit weird considering that her spear couldn't be much if any smaller than his own staff and fastening that thing to his back in any comfortable way was simply impossible. Still all in all even if he hadn't seen her tear those demons apart her movement alone identified her as a well trained fighter.

''Hello!''

Harry blinked in surprise at the sudden noise right next to him. Turning his head he saw that the space next to his bed was suddenly occupied by the little girl he could have sworn had just been standing right next to the older blonde who fortunately enough for his sanity was still some distance away. Even if he had a bit distracted by the spear wielder how had he so completely lost track of the child that he hadn't noticed her until she opened up her mouth right next to him? Perhaps an even more important question however; were those pancakes?

While food had been on his thoughts not to long ago actually seeing it and more importantly smelling it made him suddenly realise that his lack of strength might come from more than just magical exhaustion. How much time has passed since he had breakfast? Far to long his brain instantly replied as the delicious smell registered in his brain.

''Hi.'' He eventually managed to reply tearing his eyes away from the plate of food and up to the girl's face not really knowing what else to say. He had never really interacted with anyone significantly younger than him other than the occasional fist year little bugger than did not seem to understood they had to pester Prefects and not him. Still being polite was always good right? And what better than to ask about someone wellbeing? ''Are you okay?''

In response the girl's eyes which he just noticed look to shine in a way he had only seen in certain annoying half-breed dulled considerably and she lowered her head for a moment before raising it again, a smile adorning her face. ''I am great.'' She intoned seemingly convinced of her own words.

Okay that was most definitely not normal. Again he was not a mind healer, but even he saw that her reaction was weird if not a little familiar.

''Thank you for helping me by the way.'' The girl continued, her words making Harry raise a eyebrow in confusion; did she even understood what would have happened if he hadn't gotten between him and that Demon? Was she simply unaware of how much danger she had been in?

''Daddy said you were probably hungry so to thank you me and Lu made you pancakes.'' The girl said as she raised as she raised the plate. '' I hope you like them. Of course you do. Who doesn't like pancakes? Well Vell doesn't, but she is weird so … not that you would be weird if you don't like pancakes or anything. I mean yeah it would still be weird, but you know what I mean, right?''

Harry did not in fact understood what the girl was babbling about. In fact while he was glad he had saved her he decided there and then he would try to stay as far aways as possible from her and any other child that might make just as little sense as this blonde. Had he ever been like that? His memories of his earlier years at the Dursleys were a bit blurry, but he honestly doubted it. Fortunately before he had to reply to the expectantly looking child someone spoke to her.

''Amber.'' The single word spoken by the young woman still standing casually in the middle of the room was more than enough to grab the attention of the child as she turned to regard her. ''What did father say about Mr Black?''

The girl, Amber presumably blinked owlishly for a moment before seemingly realising something as she muttered an apology. To who he had no idea, but he had no time to question her on it as the elder woman spoke up again. ''While I know my father already did it I too wish to offer my profound gratitude for coming to the aid of my sister. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if you didn't.''

Now that he could definitely believe. While he didn't really trust any of these people he was pretty that she was telling the truth about this. Either than or she was the world's best actor.

''Anyway the name is Lucilla Arc and like my sister said she and **I** made you some food.'' She said stressing the I as she pointedly looked at her sister who seems rather obvious. ''You should try to eat. It won't help you recover your Aura any faster, but your body needs sustenance to.''

''Thank you.'' He replied. What else was he going to say? 'No I don't want the food you went out of you way to make even if I am staying here as a guest?' Yeah that would go over really well. With some reluctance he let go of his staff and put it next to him and accepted the plate and utilities from the now smiling Amber.

An action that did not go unnoticed apparently as just as he about to cut of his first piece of the delicious smelling food Lucilla spoke up again. ''You know, it's understandable you are a bit on edge considering what happened, but you don't have to worry about getting attacked here. The twins are standing guard at the hole in the wall and my father and a number volunteers are patrolling the vicinity. The chances of Grimm getting in here are slim to none and if even they did I am still here.''

The confidence the woman seem to hold in her own fighting skills was almost staggering. It was not false bravado. It was clear that the woman truly believed with every fibber of her being that whatever she might face she could take down and it actually made him feel at ease somewhat. They may be scarry, but it was rather reassuring to have them protecting him … no matter how galling it was to be needing protection.

He nodded at the older woman who seem to understand the gesture for what it was as said nothing else. Harry focused his attention back to his meal, cut a peace of and was about to enter it in his mouth when he was interrupted **again** when a familiar voice spoke up again … only now from his other side!

''What is it called?''

Harry snapped his head to the side and lo and behold there was the grey eyed child. Somehow she had moved around the entire bed and was now standing on his other side without him noticing it … again. Either he really was out of it or someone really needed to putt a bell on her.

''What is called what?'' Harry asked after quickly putting a bit in mouth, chewing it and swallowing it. It was rude yes, but the smell was driving him crazy. It tasted familiar like something the Houselves at Hogwarts could have made. It was another bizarre thing something so familiar tasting existed here, but for once he did not mind. It tasted great and that was all that mattered for now.

''That.'' The girl said pointing towards his staff, but fortunately not touching it. There were a number of unspoken rules in the wizarding worlds and one of the most important ones was that one did not touch someone's else's Foci without permission. Still what did she mean by the name of his staff? It had no name. It was an extension of himself. Naming him staff would be like giving his different body parts a name.

''It doesn't have one.''

''It doesn't?'' the girl questioned. ''Doesn't everyone name their weapons?''

This time she directed her question to the other female in the room who by now had seated herself in the chair Harry himself had occupied not to long ago, but she had turned it so she was facing the two of the them. In response the woman gave a shrug and said. ''Most do, but if Mr Black hasn't name his then that is his choice.''

The subtle rebuke was probably a bit to subtle as the girl barely seem to register it as she returned her attention back to his staff, not weapon, staff. ''That's weird.'' She decided voicing her opinion out loud for everyone to hear.

Harry quickly swallow another bite to prevent himself from getting in a argument with a child probably a decade his junior. 'There was nothing weird about my staff.' He thought more than a little miffed for what even he could see was a pretty petty reason.

''What does it do? Can it transform? Why does it remain that size? Can you turn it into a gun to?''

And the headache was coming back. Great!

What does it do? Even if she was a witch there was no way that she would understand wandlore so a pointless question. Come to think of it if she thought it was just a staff what exactly did she expect it to do?

Can it transform? Yes, but who would transfigure a Foci?

Why does it remain that size? If she was his age than he was sure she was just messing with him, but now he was pretty sure this was another one of those 'I understand what is being said, but mine understanding is different from yours' things.

Can it turn into a gun? Okay that question was just plain offensives. Who in the right mind would want to replace a Foci with a firearm?

Fortunately before he had to say anything to the little girl in reply her attention was drawn by a strange, not mention rather annoying sound coming from her older sister. The woman pulled something from her pocket of her pants and drew it open? Harry blinked in surprise at what looked like a hologram straight out of a sci-fi movie suspended between two solid pieces.

'Okay .. what the hell is that?' He wonder as Lucilla looked at the … screen?

''It's from dad.'' The young woman said. ''He says that several bullheads have touched down. Mom and the others have also returned.''

'Bullhead?' Harry wondered.

''Really?'' Amber questioned excitedly. ''Were are they then?''

''Probably helping the others.'' The older blonde replied. ''You know how mom is like.''

''Can we see them?''

The older of the two Arcs glanced at him, seemingly conflicted for a moment before settling on the visibly exited younger Arc. Her stern demeanour seem to soften at the her practically bouncing sister. ´´I guess we can. The others are no doubt worried about us.´´ She then turned to Harry and said. ´´I apologies Mr Black I know this is terribly rude of us, but will you be alright on your own?''

Now that Harry did not need to think twice about. ''Sure.'' He replied. ''You want to see your family that's completely understandable. Besides I need to rest right?''

''That true.'' The older woman answered and for a moment she gave him a look that oddly reminded him of Madam Pompfrey. 'Stay still and rest' it practical conveyed. He guessed this was the power of an older sister. In a way it kind of reminded him of Penny, when she had been a prefect. Though it was a bit weird to receive from someone he barely knew. ''We will probably be gone for some time. Try and finish your meal, if you are feeling up to it I recommend you take shower, the warm water should help ease your muscles. You can find the bathroom at the first door on your right when you exit here. After that I recommend you try to rest.''

Harry had to admit he was a bit bewildered by the sudden rush of information. Not to mention the fact that they apparently trusted him, a more or less complete stranger to remain in their house unsupervised. Well he guessed he saved one of their own, but still it sounded a bit foolish to him. Although he had to admit a shower definitely sounded nice.

Unknown to his thought the solder sister beckoned her younger sibling over which she happily did. They turned and just before they left the room the older Arc left some parting words. ''The Bullheads have probably brought a couple of doctors. I will ask if one of them can check you out in the morning. Good night.''

The sight of the older blonde leaving the room should have eased his nerves. It would have … if not for her last couple of words that is. Harry may strongly dislike healers, but he could deal with them. Dockers that were not aware of magic … those he did not want to deal with. In fact he was pretty sure there were laws against going to Muggle doctors. After all it really wouldn't do for a Muggle to discover something odd and try and take a closer look.

The current situation was not exactly the same since those people here were also not exactly normal, but that did not mean he wanted someone who was specially trained to take a to close a look at him.

'What to do? What to do?'

It was then that he remembered his meal was still only half eaten. Deciding that if those people wouldn't show up until the morning he could eat his food in peace … and maybe a shower.

XxX

Several hours later a now full and relatively clean Harry was once again sitting on the bed that had been assigned to him. The shower had been heaven, leaving him feeling far more energised than before His muscles still ached, but now felt more tolerable and most importantly the headache that had gotten steadily worse again during the visit of the two Arc sister had returned to a more reasonable level. Of course he shouldn't forget that it was partially because the shower had been thankfully completely normal. Considering his luck he half expected some kind of bizarre futuristic/fantasy style contraption.

After the shower he had taken a quick tour through the house. He had avoided the closed doors, but from what little he had seen it had definitely look normal. Not really what he had expected of house full of figurative monsters. Of course he didn't study his surrounding to closely. With the house empty he only had one goal in mind.

Finding the door out of the house hadn't been hard. Seeing the streets literally crowded by people had put a damper on his plans however. With magic or even better his cloak he could have easily slipped away, but without it?

What do you do when you are trying to avoid doctors? Go into a crowd full of people who might try and 'help' you by escorting you to the nearest one just because you are limping. Or worse run into one of those Arcs who would most definitely escort him to one (or at least Lucilla). No that was not an option. He would need to wait for the crowd to disperse somewhat, but leave before a doctor would come to him.

So here he was back on the bed. Positioned in such a way that he would find it very hard to fall asleep, but still comfortable enough that his body was resting. Hours passed as he watched the sky slowly turn dark until only moonlight illuminate the room. It had been rather taxing remaining silent for so long while not giving in the urge to close his eyes.

His initial paranoia had waned somewhat during his shower and the first couple of hours of sitting still, but as more and more times passed and the closer he got to the morning he started to get anxious again. The only thing that kept him relatively calm was the steady return of his magic, faster than he had anticipated, but still not enough to put up much of a fight.

Eventually he had enough and grabbed his staff and slightly tapped his staff against his forehead while muttering an incantation and clenching his eyes shut. The effects of the spell were instantaneous and highly disorientating.

Even with his eyes shut the sudden increase of stimuli of his other four senses due to the Supersensory Charm he had cast on himself was rather unpleasant. He suddenly was painfully aware of the clothes on his back as a sensation which was normally not even acknowledged by his mind was suddenly amplified greatly. He was also incredibly glad he had recently showered because if the sudden foul smell of his clothes was anything to go by it wouldn't have been pleasant.

After several long moments he managed to get used to these new sensations to some degree and managed to focus on the sense that he had cast the spell for in the first please. It wasn't easy his sense of range was completely messed up, but eventually he concluded there was nothing close to him making noise (expect someone snoring), not in the house and probably not in the close vicinity of the house. That was what he had been waiting for; it seems the chaos he had seen earlier had died down. It looked like it was time to go.

Harry hopped of the bed, noticing his legs were cooperating far more than they did before which was to expected considering how much of his magic had returned to him. So with both his magic and body in a munch better state than it had been mere hours before Harry felt a lot more confidently as he slowly opened his eyes and slowly and as silently as possible stated moving the same route he had previous taken when he had scouted the house.

He winced nearly every time he took a step forward. While he knew he was tiptoeing and not making much of a sound the Supersensory charm made it sound like he was actually moving like a rampaging giant. It was highly unnerving not to mention it completely drowned out any other sound that might alert him that someone in house had woken up. The only reason he hadn't cancelled the charm yet was the fact his sight had improved to such a degree that while he couldn't see perfectly he was still able to navigate the dark house without some kind of light source.

He suddenly halted after descending the stairs when his enhanced sensed picked out a person nearby. Said person, a male was sleeping on a nearby couch. Harry scrunched his eyes. What in the name of all that was sacred was he wearing? Was that an onesie? Was that what people here wore as nightwear? Weird.

Keeping half a eye and his staff on the young man Harry inched toward the door. A glance toward the nearby window showed that his hearing hadn't failed him and there was indeed no one outside. He reached for the doorknob and without thinking about it about opened it … or at least he tried to.

Locked. Of course it was locked. Who did not lock their homes when they go to bed?

Unfortunately the door rattling had made enough sound for the youth who was in the same room to stir. Harry mentally curses as the blond shot up. Either he was one hell of a light sleeper or he had just found the first people who showed a somewhat reasonable reaction to a demon horde attacking his village.

Sadly this would do. He was trying to being stealthy after all. With his staff already aimed at the wide eyed blond who couldn't be much older than him. Harry muttered a quick incantation and the boy fell back fast asleep. 'Sorry mate,' Harry thought actually feeling bad for cursing what looked liked to be another one the children of his host. 'But I am not going risk getting dissected.'

Sparing one last look at the young man who would remain fast asleep for at least several more hours due to his handiwork Harry now aimed his staff at the door and non-verbally cast a spell he knew since his first year at Hogwarts. His enhanced senses hear the lock getting unlocked, but not wanting to making the same mistake twice Harry slowly opened the door. He breathed a sight of relief when even his enhanced senses heard very little.

As he passed the threshold of the house that had been a sort of safe haven since coming here Harry was suddenly indecisive whether he was really doing the right thing, but that only lasted a moment as he marched forward. He was still unsure what the hell was going on or the finer details on what he should, but one thing was for sure however. His life had changed forever … for better or worse.

* * *

 **Chapter Notes:**

I hope you guys liked the chapter. Personally I wasn't really a big fan of the chapter. There was only so much Harry could do while resting, but I also didn't want to rush over it completely.

Volume 4 and the rest of this story:

So I have watched the last couple of episodes of Volume 4 of RWBY since I have posted the last chapter and while I generally liked it there are some elements I will not include in this story. The tale of the two brothers directly contradict what I have in my head for the history of the Remnant world so I will not include that nor will the four MacGuffin probably make an appearnce.


	5. The Forrest

**Chapter 5:The Forrest**

Locked up in a small space of his own creation while a demons pounded on the walls. Yeah he really was starting to hate this thrice damned forest. He really was.

He had been forced to admit several hours ago that in hindsight he might have a made a slight error in judgement by leaving the relative safety of the Arc household. No scratch that it had simply been a dumb decision.

In his defence it had sounded like a pretty sound idea at the time. Leave before someone got a to close a look at him and find about his magic. Not to mention avoid any potential awkward questions? Brilliant. Well it would have been brilliant if he hadn't nearly frozen to death, gutted, torn apart, starved, mauled to death and did he mention nearly dying half a dozen times?

Fortunately there was a bright side to it all. After all what doesn't kill you only makes your stronger right?

Now that he thought about it that didn't actually make much sense in context. After all he was not a member of a fictional race of alien warriors that had one of the most broken abilities ever. A power boost after a near death experience? Damn if he had that then he would be pretty much unstoppable by now and he would have been able to fly without a broom … that would have been really neat.

To be fair it wasn't all bad. Yeah the near death experiences kind of sucked and his feet were kinda killing him, but at least he wasn't being dissected and now that he thought of it maybe just maybe the whole 'what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger' might not have been completely wrong.

Sure he hadn't gotten any stronger physically or magically in fact he felt worn and tired, but he had learnt and as any self respecting Ravenclaw would claim that was always import.

To put it simply Knowledge alone is not enough.

He had the knowledge to keep himself warm; not one simple and convenient spell, but rather it would take several different ones from different branches of magic. It hadn't been until he nearly froze to death however that he had forced himself to think outside of the box and apply that knowledge into a single solution.

He knew plants; had studied them for nearly half a decade, been taught to care for them and how to identify them; both by sight and with spells, but other than that it had never really interested him all that much. Magic was a miracle, but plants were … well plants. Even if some had magical properties it still often reminded him far to much of his days working in his aunt's garden, but it was when his stomach hadn't stopped growling for hours and every step he took felt like a great achievement that he had realised the knowledge he had learnt might be actually worth something after all.

Perhaps most importantly he had learnt a great deal about those demons … those Grimm.

For one the different sub-species of demons didn't seem to be hostile to each other … or at least they wanted him dead so badly that they would set aside any difference until he was dealt with. Another thing of note that most of them fought with very little sense of self preservations.

It was weird; they were not dumb, they were capable of coordinated attacks and were more than able to work closely together with others of their kind, but at the same time they also were more than willing to simply charge at him even as he effortlessly cut down their brethren around them.

Most worrying however was something he had learnt from one of the books in Arc household and had now had seen in practice. Apparently the demons could sense negative emotions. This ability become rather apparent when one of those abomination charged right at him while he had been hidden by magic.

This ability was fortunately not foolproof as the beast seemed confused when he couldn't see him, but still it had been more than a little worrying and it had made him wary to stop somewhere and rest. Sadly he had also been unable to ascertain whether this was merely temporally shock or a genuine weakness on their part as he had cut the beast down before it could act. As curious as he been he was not stupid enough to put his own life on the line just to prove or disprove his theory.

Unfortunately sooner than later he had in fact been forced to stop and rest. He was only human after all. He wasn't exactly sure how much time had passed since he had entered the damn forest, but when 'food' no longer energised him as it had once did and his reaction speed had started to decrease at an alarming rate he had to concede that he had to rest … in a forest full of demons. Yeah that had been a good reason why he hadn't wanted to stop in the first place.

Fortunately he didn't have to actually search for shelter himself. With the aid of magic it hadn't taking him long to create a glorified shack that would be his home for the night … or whatever time of day it was. It had been rather difficult to determine the time of day with how dark the forest was and his own sense of time had been completely thrown of ever since arriving here.

The shack was nothing much; basically nothing more than a small cube with no windows or door assembled by a combination of transfiguration, conjuration and most importantly charms. Constructed with some of toughest materials he could make it was already a pretty sturdy construct, but with the added charms it should in theory be pretty much indestructible against anything save another magic user.

Once he was done he uncommonly dropped to the cold hard ground. With the sense of danger that had urged him on well passed his limit lessened greatly he suddenly realised how completely and utterly exhausted he was. So exhausted he was that even bring himself to transfigure something to sleep on or even apply a simple cushioning charm to the floor. He simply closed his eyes and for one blissful moment he felt like he could fall asleep right there and then … that was until something crashed into his cube with enough force that his entire shack shook … suffice it to say Harry was wide awake.

Cussing up a storm Harry swirled his head to the direction of the sound and all he saw was darkness … in hindsight maybe making a small room devoid of any light hadn't been a good idea after all. He quickly raised his free hand palm up and muttered a incantation and a ball of flames formed in his hand.

Say what you want about Lupin and his annoying tendency to angst about his ´monthly issue´, but the man knew some wicked spells.

With his surroundings now illuminated Harry saw that his structure hadn't taken any visible signs of damage. Sure he knew no one whiteout magic should be able to damage it, but the keyword there was 'should'. They shouldn't be able to damage it. Just as it should have been impossible for those other demons to move while under a petrification charm. So all things considered the fact that his surrounding ´should´ be able to protect him wasn't all that comforting right now.

Still he was safe. His protection was holding. He was …

''Holy …!'' Harry exclaimed as something suddenly slammed right behind him and his shelter shook for the second time. Swirling around he saw again no blemishes on his conjured wall, but that did little to ease his wildly beating heart. Then another blow came … and another … and another … and another.

Harry gritted his teeth as the blows seem to be coming from all direction. He just wanted to close his eyes for a couple of minutes. Was that really to much to ask for!

Nearly snarling in frustration Harry was about to tear down the very protection that he had raised to protect him and teach those vermin just who they were messing with before his rational mind managed to take over. He was tired. He wasn't thinking things over correctly. He was in there because he was to tired to deal with them so tearing down the very thing that was protecting him was beyond foolish.

In fact getting angry was foolish.

If those things were drawn to negative emotions than getting angry was probably the worst thing to do.

He needed to stay calm … calm … calm.

''Will you shut up already!'' Harry snarled in frustration as another blow came.

Yeah as it turned out staying calm was easier said that done.

'Deep breaths, Harry, deeps breaths. Remember what Master Li has taught you' He thought as he extinguished the flames in his hands and moved in a more comfortable position. Trying to block out the sounds around him Harry started muttering a mantra he and Master Li had come up when it became clear he was not the type that could simply 'empty his mind' on command.

 _''There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.''_

 _''Knowledge is earned, knowledge is power.''_

 _''The powerful must protect the weak, the weak must become powerful.''_

 _''There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.''_

 _''Knowledge is earned, knowledge is power.''_

 _''The powerful must protect the weak, the weak must become powerful.''_

As he kept repeating his mantra Harry slowly started to lose himself into it and eventually he even managed to block out his surrounding completely. When he opened his eyes again after an undetermined amount of time Harry felt calmer, still very tired physically, but no longer mentally exhausted. He then noticed the silence

'Huh … it worked?'

Well that was unexpected. Good news, but unexpected. Knowing his luck the situation probably would have grown worse. Still he was not going complain. With the distraction gone he could finally, finally get some sleep. After checking the protective charms one last time and finding them in perfect condition he decided to do just that and for once it seems Lady Luck was on his side as there were no more sudden interruptions and he was allowed to fall asleep in peace.

XxX

'Note to self. Next time DO NOT fall asleep on the cold hard floor' Harry thought as his body made it very clear it did not appreciate his latest resting place. Harry slowly stood up stretching his varies limbs as conjured another ball of flames to illuminate his surroundings and let it float in the air. A quick scan of his now visible surroundings showed that his physically protection had held without any issues.

He then picked up his staff and went over the varies charms he had had preformed several hours before. To his relief there had been no issues there either. It would really have sucked if any of those had failed. Especially the one that had allowed oxygen in. After everything that had happened to him death by suffocation was probably kind of anti-climatic.

Once certain he was still safe he sat down again. He could not simply rush out again otherwise he would just end up in the same situation.

First things first thought. There were some things he had to take care of.

He moved a single finger to touch his earring and channelled his magic into it. After several seconds he removed it and smiled. It seems he had been right before. The enchantments were still there the magic had simply been gone, but at least that problem was taken care of the moment even though this did not answer why the magic had been removed from the piece of jewellery.

He then used his staff to conjure a small wooden bowl and filled it with water. Next he conjured a knife and carved several runes around the rim of the bowl. Once done he placed the bowl one the ground before him and softly started to chant.

Scrying was not something he was partially proficient in. Unlike most forms of Divination almost anyone could scry, but sadly it was not exactly the most reliable form of magic. Strong concentrations of magic tended to disrupt it and it was rather easy to put counter magic in place if you were not in a place with a magically strong presence. So he had very little practise. In fact the last time he had practised it was in his third year if he remembered correctly when his dorm-mates had somehow managed to pestered him in scrying a muggle nude beach. He and his dorm-mates had realised a bit to late there were more than just (gorgeous) woman on beaches like that. Suffice it to say they had all learnt their lesson that day and one thing was for sure; what has been seen cannot be unseen.

Eventually the watter reflection changed from his (and damn did he look like someone who could seriously use a shower) to a image of a very familiar forest. 'So far so good.' Harry thought as he spotted his little construct amids the trees. It looked undamaged and as far as he could see there was nothing that wanted to kill him nearby.

The image changed when he uttered a differed sting of words. Harry frowned at what he saw. ´The village?' as he stared at the image of place he had not so long left behind. ''Stupid unreliable branch of magic, that was not what I asked for.'' He muttered as he went over the words he had used before deciding to rephrase it.

His annoyance gave way for confusion when the new incantation change the image back to the previous one, but only for a moment before the view for a lack of better word flew up. Harry grimaced at what he saw. From the new point of view he could now see just how huge the forest was, but his spirit lifted somewhat when the image moved again, now seemingly flying over the forest as he watched countless trees pass by before settling on a completely different village; from the looks of it the town was considerably larger than the last one and like the other village it had a thick wall protected it on all sides; even the part facing the water.

'The image didn't move that fast. I should be able to find that.'Harry thought. 'And if nothing else it should be a lot safer there then here … and hopefully have some real food … and a bed … and a shower.'

With a new short term goal in mind Harry decided to look for one last thing before getting ready to set out. Not completely sure how to phrase his next incantation he decided to just go with his guts. For the next few moments Harry watched in fascination as countless images were shown; ranging from mountains to forest, vast bodies of water to barren wastelands, small village, great cities and everything in between. The images passed almost to fast to process, but Harry did note that the water rippled several times, and some of the images were far less clear than others. Before he could really think on why that was the rapidly changing images suddenly settled on a single image.

What he saw was rather unsettling. It was a castle, a very creepy looking castle at that. The building itself was not the only thing that was unsettling however. The grounds, the surroundings, the very air itself was off. It was like someone had cursed the land, or someone or something had corrupting it. Which was a rather terrifying thought considering that in the current day and age that were very few beings left who held such power.

After a moment of showing the full castle image moved again seemingly zooming in on one of the towers making Harry notice for the first time that a person, and he was using that term for loosely there was standing atop of it and was seemingly looking up at him … not going to lie that was rather creepy. No scratch that it was very creepy.

Leaving aside the fact the scrying was **not** two-way and whoever was standing there shouldn't even be aware he was seeing her there was also the fact that whatever she was, she was not human and unlike Mr Arc there was absolutely no chance he was wrong there. After all not even in the magical word were there people were eyes like that, or skin for that matter, the veins weren't exactly normal either. At least her dress sense wouldn't be too out of place back home.

Feeling pretty freaked out by the woman seemingly staring in his very soul Harry quickly disrupted his connection with the water and for good measure vanished it and the bowl, but that did very little to get those eyes out of his mind. He had no idea what had just happened. Again scrying like that did not work two way. It was not like he had conjure a floating eyeball to look through. Unfortunately even with that knowledge it did little to ease his suspicions that the woman or whatever she had been had been very much aware of him. The fact that there were things here that simply did not play nice with the established rules of magic only made it worse.

Come to think of it why had he even gotten that image? As unreliable as scrying could be that was not even remotely close to what he tried to call forth. Not to mention that it was completely different than the rest what he had been shown; short images that lasted mere moments, never focusing on a single location for an extended amount of time.

It was almost like he hadn't been in control near the end like someone had high-jacked his vision near the end and had forced him to watch what they wanted, but that was ridicules … right?

Again scrying was not a branch of magic he had really studied. Just enough to know how to defend against it, but he was pretty sure it did not work like that. Heck he was pretty sure there was no magic in existence that could be 'high-jacked'.

Of course there was very little he could do right now. Whatever that woman was he hoped he hoped he never encountered her, because frankly she unnerved him in a way that not even Voldemort managed to do.

The first part of the vision was equally unhelpfully. He had seen a lot, but without knowing what was where in relation to each other it did very little to help him. Sadly there was also nothing he had seen that looked even remotely familiar. Those ripples and blurred images were also something he took note of. Something like that usually happened if something was blocking the vision. Was there magic here? Or was there perhaps something else that could block his sight?

Sadly there was no way of knowing which it was since again he had no way of knowing what places where shrouded from his vision.

Harry shook his head. While he had been trying to find answerers he had ultimately ended up with more questions than answers. Still he had he had at least learnt where he could go next. Hopefully he would find a semi-reliable source of information there … while staying under the radar.

Final ready to get a move on Harry grabbed his staff and extinguished the artificial source of light hovering above him, tore down the varies charms protecting him before moving on to the actually physical parts. He had to blink several times as the sudden light of the sun nearly blinded him, but he was used to it soon enough.

A quick scan of his surroundings showed that as his vision had shown there were indeed no demons near. So why couldn't he shake the nagging feeling that someone was watching him? It was not paranoia, well maybe a little, but Harry had always been pretty good at detecting when someone was watching him, a skill that had been rather useless at Hogwarts since there was usually at least someone staring at him, but had helped him greatly in his younger years and right now he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. So he scanned his surroundings again as he gripped his staff ready to be used.

''Let's see; tree, tree, creepy bird that was looking right at him, and oh look more trees. Wait … creepy bird that is looking at me?''

Harry blinked in surprise as his gaze fell upon the first real animal he had seen since coming here. The bird, a raven if he was not mistaken was sitting on a nearby tree-branch. He cocked his head to the side as he studied the beast which was looking at him with a level of intelligence he was pretty sure no normal bird processed.

If he was back home Harry would have suspected he was dealing with some kind of magical hybrid, an Animagus or perhaps someone peering through the eyes of their familiar, but here? Here he had no idea what he was dealing with. For all he knew it wasn't even a raven and instead a completely different species that existed here.

Their staring match lasted for a moment longer before Harry remembered just where he was and that in the great scheme of things getting out of the forest was a lot more important than finding out why a bird was finding him so interesting so with one final glance at the bird Harry turned around and after a moment of orientating himself set of in the direction of what he was reasonably sure was the direction of that coastal town, or at least he strongly hoped so.

As he walked away from the bird Harry absentmindedly casted several spells on himself, obscuring him from the five senses to the best of his abilities. It hadn't been all that effective against those demons, but every little bit helped.

As he continued walking he recognised a bit of his surrounding from what he had seen in the bowl and with renewed optimism Harry quickened his stride, not once looking back. A fact that made him miss a rather interesting sight.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

Sorry for the delay you guys. For those of you who have read my FFXV one-shot you will know why I haven't updated in a while. For those of who haven't? Let's just say I was a bit sidetracked by a game.

The other reason why I haven't updated this story in a while was because I was a bit stuck on what to write. Truth be told this chapter was never part of my outline. In my outline I simply went from Harry leaving the Arc household to the next plotpoint, but while that looked good in the outline when I actually wrote it out it felt way to rushed so I needed some kind of transaction chapter and while I had some ideas what I wanted in the chapter it was difficult to make a full chapter out of it.


	6. The Journal

**Chapter 6: The Journal**

 _Day 1_

 _If you are reading this and you are not me then give me back my Scroll. That thing was not cheap you know=_

 _If you are still reading then you are either a rude little shit or you are me and you are looking at you very first entry of your Journal._

 _I have been told it is not healthy to keep everything bottled up._

 _I can_ _´t say I always agree with that sentiment, but I'll admit sometimes it is good to discuss stuff with people._

 _Unfortunately I don't have friends to talk to. At best I have a handful acquaintances and those aren't exactly the type of people you can tell the woes and problems of a word/universe travelling magic user so instead I have decided to write things down._

 _I have never written anything like this so I am not sure where to begin, but I guess I should begin at the beginning._

 _My name is Harry James Potter. Not James Black, Harry Potter. No matter how many times I introduce myself with the wrong name I should always remember who I am._

 _That being said I guess I lucked out when coming up with a fake name. As I learnt; everyone and I mean everyone have names that are colour themed. How that came around I am not entirely sure yet. I know it has something to do with a World War known as the Great War and something about expressing individuality? I am not sure what either of that has to do with colours, but regardless there is no denying I would have stood out if had used my real name._

 _One thing that was rather curious however was the fact that it was not only names based on English colours. There were also several people I have met that introduced themselves with names I known are colours in other languages. Most of those were French, but that is probably only because that is one of the few foreign languages I have more than a passing familiarity with. The fact there exist languages other than English (or whatever they called it here since there was no England) was very interesting especially considering that other than the names I have been unable to find any traces of foreign languages. So how did the people have enough knowledge about the languages to be able to name their kids?_

 _It was definitely something to look into._

 _Anyway I digress._

 _I am Wizard, a human being capable of manipulating the wonder known as magic._

 _It was not something I have always been able to do. Once upon a time I was just a Muggle, a weak one at that. I guess I should always remember that too. Always remember your beginnings and all that. I honed my skills at magic under the tutelage of the professors of Hogwarts and alongside my fellow pupils at Master Li and I learnt so much, but there was still so much I could learn, so many different kind of magic. Unfortunately my current progress in the magical arts were currently_ _… well to put it bluntly non-existent._

 _I am not arrogant (or stupid) enough to start experimenting and I have neither books nor a teacher so I am pretty much stuck at mastering what I already know._

 _The reason for my lack of books and teachers is due to my own stupidity. I have walked into a trap, fought people who wanted to kill me and got stuck in a ritual that transported my to what I for now I have decided is the home world of the Demon race (not to self: if I am reading this and I learnt the truth edit this.) Besides the aforementioned demons, humans live here, extraordinary humans, but so far I have yet to see magical ones._

 _Anyway I arrived here, fought some demons, met some nice people, made a rather poor decision and have grown a rather strong dislike for long walks in forests._

 _After finally leaving that damned forest I arrived in the coastal town I have called home for the last_ _… two? Was it two weeks? I am not entirely sure considering the first couple of days kind of blurred together, but it was probably around two or three weeks._

 _The time I have spent in this town has been good for me._

 _Well_ _… not the first couple of days. Those were kind of crappy._

 _It all changed when I bumped into that woman. What was her name again? No matter the name isn't important for the sake of this journal let's just refer to her as Mrs Malfoy, she certainly had looked like her (somewhat) and she had certainly acted like her if I remember the few times I had been forced to endure her company correctly. So I hadn't been watching where I was going, so I bumped into her and knocked some (apparently) expensive vase out of her hands. That didn't mean she had she had to start ranting about me!_

 _I must admit I wasn't in the greatest of moods at that time I hadn't exactly recovered from my time in the forest and if I am not entirely mistaken it had been well over day since I had last slept or eaten. So I really did not want to deal with someone yelling at me especially because something as dumb as a broken vase. My first impulse on how to deal with the woman would have been most satisfying, but I got the distinct feeling that silencing her might have have resulted in more problems than I wanted to deal with. Besides she was not a witch and unlike them there was a distinct chance she would grow borderline hysterical if she suddenly lost her voice without explanation and that was just a bit to excessive for merely being annoying. So instead I did something far simpler; a repairing charm, a spell so easy I learnt it in my first year and without uttering word or even needing to wave my staff I mended the broken pieces back into a single vase. Hah! That had certainly shut the woman up._

 _In fact the woman had been so grateful I had fixed her 'priceless' vase that she insisted compensating me. I hadn't bee sure what Malfoy had been trying to me hand me at first. Well that was not true from what she was babbling about (and damn did the woman switch between ranting and annoyingly happy quickly! Was that vase really worth that much?) I managed to glean she wanted to pay me for repairing the thing so that meant money, but what she gave me wasn't money_ _… or at least to me it was not. The plastic 'cards' did not look even remotely like any currencies I had experience with._

 _Of the four card she had given me all were of equal size and the front of each card was more or less the same with the same symbol on each of the four corners of the cards and in the middle what I was pretty sure was a world map. The back of the cards were even more unremarkable; plain white with a single black bar. The only difference between the cards was the background colours of the front. With two having the same colour and two others having a different colour. The colour as I have learnt denotes the value of the cards. Why they didn't simply put numbers on it like most currency I am familiar with I will never know, but if nothing else I had money and money meant food. I am pretty sure I thanked the woman; again those hadn't been a pleasant couple of days so my memory is a bit hazy and made my way over to a local market that I had found earlier while walking through the town._

 _It took a lot of observation, but eventually I manage to get some grasp on what I was holding. It was more than a little tedious; observing people buying things, watching what they paid and what they got for it and it was then that I realised just how much I had been given for what was essentially child's play and I realised that I might just have found a solution for several of my problems. While it was child_ _´s play for me it wasn't for them._

 _Building myself a stand and selling my services had been a rather interesting experience. People didn't trust me at first, but a couple of demonstrations and charging a very cheap price as I had decided to just charge them around the same amount I had paid for a loaf of bread saw plenty of customers and only more and more came by as the day went on. It was rather amazing how much broken crap people kept around._

 _I was still somewhat leery of preforming magic so openly, but it was also so liberating! Even if it was only something as simple as this to openly use magic and no one freaking out? That was just amazing._

 _I did learn two very shocking things that first day._

 _First I learnt that animal/human hybrids existed_ _… yeah that had been rather shocking. Don't get me wrong I have seen what someone messing up with self-transfiguration can do and I have even heard of people doing it deliberately trying to look 'exotic', but no matter how much they changed on the inside they were still human, but these 'people' were different, these Faunus as I learnt they were called were born like that. How that was biologically possible was something I still have no idea. Epically considering the fact the hybrids were not just human/a single specie of animal, but rather I have already met different kinds of Faunus. While I haven't had much luck in discovering their origin I did notice a certain level of discrimination towards the species as a whole; kind of like how Half-breeds were treated back home._

 _I kind of understood why. While I am not sure my reasons where the same as the people here. Even I felt unnerved when I saw them. It wasn't anything major, but those people looked so human, but at the same time they were distinctly not human. Like a vampire who was just a tad to graceful to be human, or a Veela just a bit to beautiful to be a believable human. The Muggles have a name for this_ _… uncanny valley, I believe they call it; they looked human, but some part of your mind just convinces you what you are seeing is wrong._

 _The second thing is_ _… how to put this nicely? The people here where dumb … like really dumb. 'Must be a Huntsman thing' I have heard multiple people say as I fixed their stuff. Seriously? I mean really? I have been here for only a short amount of time and I even I knew how stupid that was. The fact I already knew better than people who lived here there whole life was really telling. To make matter worse I have confirmed that anyone can use Aura, they just have to 'unlock' it. The fact that these people who have the potential to use that power never bothered learning more about it was rather telling of their collective intelligence._

 _What was even more baffling was the fact that not every single person was simply forced to learn about it. It may sound cruel, but seriously these people were surrounded by demons! Even if certain people simply didn't have the temperament of a fighter they should at least be able to defend themselves if they for some reason where suddenly faced with a demon. After all no matter what they may say anyone (between a certain age) could fight if their life dependent on it. Not properly maybe, but that was were training came in. If all those people at the Arc's village had been trained. Who knows how many more could have survived?_

 _Then again what could he really expect of a race of people that waged war on each other while being surrounded by freaking demons! Demons that were drawn to negative emotions at that? Wizards and witches may lack common sense, but at least they despite their prideful nature had temporally banded together to face the bigger threat._

 _Still life here kinda reminded me of home; life and death situations, blatant racisms towards certain groups and people who seem to be lacking in the brain compartment_ _… yeah just like home. To be fair to those 'lacking in the brain compartments' people at least they were the lesser of two evils. While I would never encourage people to be ignorant, but if they must then I guess it is always better to accept you simply don't know what you are seeing and make an assumption on what you think it is than to say 'I don't know what that is therefore it must evil!'._

 _All in all my stay there had been rather enlightening. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. There is only so much to repair and while the first couple of days I hauled in enough money that I would be able to actually buy food for quite some time instead of scavenging it (and then some), but the days following those had been far less busy, but that was fine because I had books. Yes books_ _… wonderful books, the start of a new collection. They had been surprisingly cheap, but maybe that was just for me considering I had also helped that particular shopkeeper. Of course there were only so many hours in a day so unfortunately I only have been able to make a dent in my new collection._

 _In all fairness I could probably have been quite a bit further into it if I hadn't a bit sidetracked. This may be a bit redundant since I am writing this on it, but let let's say it anyway; I am the proud owner of a Scroll_ _… as I write that line I realise just how underwhelming a reaction I would get if I would have said it back home, but the Scroll I bought was nothing like the scrolls back home. It was not some rolled up piece of parchment, no it was a piece of technology. A piece of technology I am pretty sure the Muggles back home could only dream of._

 _While I hadn't been sure what it was called back then I had already seen one once before, in the hands of Lucilla Arc back when I had been at Arc's household. I had thought that it had looked futuristic back then, but I had no idea just what an incredible thing it was. The closest description I could give to the people back home (Or at least those with more than a passing familiarity with Muggle technology) was that these Scrolls were a combination of those mobile cell-phones that were started to become rather popular, those enchanted mirrors his godfather was so proud of and computers_ _… only even better._

 _Honestly I couldn't care less about the phone/enchanted mirror part. Despite the fact that I had originally looked into what a Scroll was after several people had asked for my 'Scroll number' I had no inclination to actually stay in touch with any of these people. The original plan was just to figure out what a Scroll was so that I could have better excuses whenever anyone asked for my number. The last aspect of those Scrolls did interest me however. I will admit I have zero experience with computers and that probably meant I am barely scratching the surface of what the device is capable of, but for now I am more than happy with the 'App' that allows me to write_ _… or type in this case down information, store it, edit it, sort it by subject … all in all it was an highly organisable and infinite notebook. For someone like me who is suddenly exposed to large amounts of information this really is a marvellous device._

 _So yes I will admit I got a bit sidetracked; making notes, cross-referencing notes_ _… finding out that some books are contradicting each other, starting over from scratch because I somehow managed to delete all my notes (still not sure how I did that), but now it is time move on. Not back into that wretched forest. If possible I am going to try and avoid wandering through a forest in the foreseeable future … I just realised that by stating that I am tempting Fate aren't I? Oh well it's not like that bitch ever needed a reason to mess with me._

 _Anyway as I stated I am currently leaving the port-town by the only way other than returning the forest that was available to me and that was by boat. Not going to lie it's a bit boring, while it leaves me more than enough time to write this and read my books it's also really, really dull. Even now I can sense Demons down below the waves (and had that been a shock shortly after leaving!), but they for some reasons have left the boat alone. Which was weird considering what I have read of the creatures known here as the Grimm so far._

 _I have experienced several kinds of magical transport and things they had always in common was that they were quick, chaotic and exhilarating. The trip so far had been the exact opposite. Sure the boat had to endure some waves, but those were negligible and while the view was nice after the first hour it had become rather boring and I really hope the destination is worth the wait._

 _As for where I am going?_

 _My destination is an island called Patch, home to Signal, a Combat School._

 _Yes, a Combat School. This world has schools specifically to train people to fight or to be more specifically to become Huntsman and Huntresses, proficient users of Aura and enemies of Grimm and criminals alike_ _… yes that was me basically paraphrasing a book. Anyway from what I have been able to gather each of the four Kingdoms of Remnant have two combat schools; a beginner one and a more advanced one._

 _Vale, as I have learnt is the name of the Kingdom I am currently in has Beacon, the advanced school, and Signal, the beginner school._

 _So why am I heading to Patch? To learn of course!_

 _Honestly I even considered trying to find my way to Beacon, but Signal was significantly closer by and it is always better to start with the basics. After all there is a very good reason why first years learn to transfigure a matchstick instead of starting of with the really interesting stuff like human transfiguration._

 _I am well aware that visiting a school filled with people who I can only assume do actual know that my magic is not in fact a 'Huntsman thing' might expose me, but then again if all goes to plan no one will ever notice I am there_ _… I just did it again, didn't I? Oh well I am pretty good at sneaking around in school and I have plenty experience doing it. Besides what is the worst thing that could happen if I get caught? I am not aware of local law, but how bad an offence could trespassing at a school really be?_

 _Besides it's not like the chance of getting into trouble is going to stop me. I need some answers. If there is one thing more frustrating than complete ignorance then it is having answers, but only for half of your questions._

 _I know that supposedly every single living being (except Demons) have Aura, but it is locked and need to be 'unlocked'. What I don't know is how it is unlocked or for that matter do all living being really have Aura? Even animals and plants? Does that mean both also have souls? I have never seen plants ghosts or animal ghosts and I have never heard of Soul Magic being used on either one of those species, but then again Soul Magic was not exactly a branch of magic that was wildly discussed._

 _I also know that every person has a Semblance. It is an ability unique for ever Aura user and when it is actively used it drains Aura, but if it unique then how are people trained in it? Or for that matter how do people find about it?_

 _Furthermore I know that Aura can be used as a shield of sort (full extend unknown) and even enhance one's physicals skills far beyond what was humanly possible as I saw when I witnessed the Arc's in battle, but that can't be all. The human body isn't made to move at such speed. Are the people here simply physically different or does Aura do more than allow them to move like that and for that matter what are the drawbacks to using Aura, because surely there must be?_

 _Magic had magical exhaustion and countless ways you could screw yourself over if you weren't careful, but what of Aura? Did it have similar dangers? It would definitely explain why not everyone was trained_ _… either that or they really were a bunch of idiots as I have stated before. For now I guess I should give them the benefit of doubt and assume there are in fact negative aspect to Aura which they hopefully explain at one of those beginner schools._

 _With some luck I might even be able to earn some more Lien while staying on Patch. I am not entirely sure how long I plan to stay on the island yet. Other than it being home to Signal I know very little about the place. I briefly considered Scrying the place, but after what happened the last time I practised that particular branch of magic I decided against it. As much I hate to admit it that woman had unnerved me greatly and despite never being able to catch anyone in the act I could have sworn on numerous occasions that someone had been watching me from just beyond my field of vision._

 _I do hope Patch has enough interesting things to occupy my time as I am really not looking forward to another boring boat ride for some time. It is at time like these I really miss my Firebolt. Unfortunately even if I hadn't dropped it I am pretty sure I would have been unable to restore it to working condition. Unlike my ring and earing (which both had also been drained of magic) which I had personally enchanted and therefore was able to restore pretty easily (well the earing, the ring would take months if not longer before it was back to the previous level) the broom was enchanted on a level far beyond my understanding and simply charging magic into it might have had catastrophic results or worse_ _… the broom would have worked, but suddenly faltered mid-flight._

 _Maybe I should look into enchanting my own broom? The guys and I had worked on it for some time last year and it had been pretty interesting. Sure the people of the Broom Regulatory Control of the Department of Magical Transportation would probably have had an heart attack if they had ever seen The Eagle Mark 9 (if McGonagall hadn't confiscated it when she saw one of it's test flights), but if nothing else the broom was lot safer than The Eagle Mark 1 to 8. Sure I know full well that whatever I could create would be nowhere near as fast as the Firebolt, nor as comfortable or safe for that matter, but again since I personally enchant it theoretically it should be safer than fixing something I don't fully understand._

 _There suddenly seems to be a lot of activity on deck._

 _Ah it seems we getting close. I am currently standing close by the railing and I can see an island in the distance and_ _… are those trees? Lot and lots of trees? Of course there are. Seriously what is this place; a Druid's wet dream or something? Still I guess this is still better than overly polluted cities._

 _Anyway I guess I should save this file and get ready to leave. I am not sure if writing this all down really helped me, but I guess it felt good to write it all out so I might write more of these if I have the time. Now what curse should I use to ensure people are incapable of reading this?_

* * *

 **Author notes:**

So I kind of broke the whole 'show don't tell' part of story telling with this chapter, but honestly I kind of like it. Not only does it summarise something that has to happen, but isn't really that interesting. Not to mention the fact that Harry's reasons for keeping a journal aren't entirely unfounded either. Harry has a lot of new things thrown at him and with no one to talk to about it keeping a diary (which it basically is no matter what Harry calls it) allows Harry to self reflect and by introducing this concept once I can simply refer to it on occasion implying Harry keeps writing his journal 'off-screen'.

I would also like to react to varies reviews/PM messages regarding Harry acting irrational with the whole doctors/freedom of practising magic whenever he wanted and running away from the village where the Arcs live. First off Harry himself has already acknowledged this was a dumb decision and his reasons for it. I also like to point out that Harry is far from perfect and can be a pretty unreliably narrator. After all no matter what kind of life he has lived Harry is still only fifteen years old (nearly sixteen) and considering the situation he found himself in can anyone really expect him to act and make completely logical decisions? I mean compared to how canon!Harry was at that age this version is a lot more rational.

 **Next chapter: Chapter 7: Gryffindor Red**


	7. Gryffindor Red

**Chapter 7: Gryffindor Red**

In his life Harry had only ever been to three schools; St. Grogory's Primary School, a place he perhaps hated even more than 4 Privet Drive, Mahoutokoro which he had visited when they had hosted a tournament for aspiring duellists and of course, Hogwarts, beloved Hogwarts, the school with so, so many faults, but still his home, the place he had so many fond memories of and now he had a fourth school he could add to the short list.

Signal Academy was interesting place. It was obvious not magical, but at the same time it was not Muggle in the same way his primary school had been. St. Grogory had never been home to explosions, gunfire or students fighting each others with deadly weapons. In that aspect it was more like Hogwarts, a place where explosions were far more common than the teachers were probably comfortable with and while very few witches or wizards would ever touch a gun that did not mean they couldn't seriously harm each others. It was actually ridiculously easy to do so. To easy some may even argue.

To his relief Signal had been located only a short distance away from port with a clear path towards it, saving him from having to navigating another forest. The place was pretty big, nowhere near the size of Hogwarts, but considering Hogwarts was a castle that was only partially occupied that was not really a fair comparison.

The school had a solid looking stone wall surrounding it. A large portion of the enclosed space was a courtyard that also doubled a outdoor training/sparring areas, but there was also some room dedicated to what looked like a football field with a place to run laps around it. The rest was occupied by a three stories tall building that housed the actual school.

For a school that trained warriors training to fight Demons it looked rather normal on the inside … for the most part at least; classrooms filled with bored looking students, a library with a librarian that had an uncanny resemblance to madam Prince and a cafeteria that served some pretty decent food were some of the things that he had come across.

Of course for every normal room there were others you wouldn't find in any school back home, neither magical nor Muggle ones … well any was probably a bit to much, but at the very least you wouldn't find those things in almost any school. Like a forge to craft and maintain the student's weapons, or the shooting range? He was pretty sure most schools frowned at their students having firearms instead of allowing them to hone their skill in it. Or the large storerooms filled with Dust and ammunition? Not exactly normal either (especially the former)of course he had also given those rooms a wide berth; bullets did not interest them and while Dust most definitely did the fact he knew the substance was rather volatile made him rather weary to be even remotely close to large quantities of it.

There was also a room which was a a very sturdy looking room; a cell, a panic room or vault or something, more training rooms, an infirmary (a place he stayed away from on sheer principle), dressing rooms with some rather luxurious bathrooms (another place he avoided after he came across it; there were simply some thing you did not do while hidden by magic after all) and even a large fighting area with large spectator stands surrounding it.

All in all Signal Academy was a rather impressive school.

Of course he wasn't there for the sights. He was there to learn after all. Sadly he had miscalculated a bit. From what he had been able to gather the school year had been going on for some time and so the most basic of basic stuff was no longer being covered. Not only that, but most of the teachers (and even some of the older students) seem to be aware of his presence. No not aware … that would imply they actually knew he was there and he was pretty sure none of them had been able to pierce through the magic shrouding his presence, but rather some part of their mind must be aware that there was something out there that their five senses weren't able to detect. A pretty damn impressive feat; while most of his charms were far from perfect the notice-me-not charm should have made sure that people did not pay any attention to something that was already barely visible in the first place. The fact they could was damn impressive.

He had heard of witches and wizard being able to do this, but in their case it was a conflict in the mind. Their mind told them there was nothing to pay attention to, but at the same time it also told them there was magic being used closed by. Most of the time the power of a notice-me-not was enough that even if a person was magically attuned enough to sense magic that they would still dismiss the sensation because there was nothing there after all, but some with a powerful enough connection could sense that there was something was wrong, but the people here had no magic, yet they still were aware there was something wrong with their senses. Pure instinct perhaps? Was that even possible? To see through a notice-me-not charm by simple instinct? Well … they were monsters after all.

Well … fortunately not all of them.

Since coming here Harry had the opportunity to witness several dozen spars between students from different age groups and was relieved that while all the students were at a level were they could have trounced most Hogwarts students he liked to believe that a good majority were not above his abilities and that he should be able to take them on in one on one fights.

Truth be told a good portion of the students he had seen spar weren't very good fighters. They were strong for sure most of them wielding weapons that could have killed him in a single blow if they were able to connect, but the keyword there was 'connect' none of the students bare one had shown the ability to move at speeds Nicolas and Lucilla Arc had displayed yet they still charged at their opponent leaving themselves wide open to be blasted away and those that remained at distance usually used guns which were even more easy to counter. Again they were not weak, none of them were, their strategies were just a bit … lacking.

That being said just like the student body of Hogwarts there were definitely a couple of hidden gems among them. While a good portion was only stronger than average at best there were a number of students that had most definitely caught his attention and he was not going to lie; he would have loved to have faced those students in the ring … well except one of them. That person had most definitely caught his attention, but for all the wrong reasons. He did not want to fight her. NOT. At. All.

The blonde bombshell was a hand to hand fighter … well she punched things. Was that considered hand to hand? It was not her fighting style that made him not wanting to face here. He could deal with that just as easily as any other melee fighting style. Nor was it her appearance. While she was definitely and 9,5 out of 10 and he probably would be tongue-tied if he he ever had to talk to her in a normal situation in the ring he never had that problem … in a fight everything was always a lot simpler.

No the problem he had with her was the fact that she had one hell of a temper and more importantly had no problem hitting where no men should ever be hit. Harry felt himself shudder at the memory of 'that fight'. It might not have been him in that ring, but that not mean he (and probably every other male in attendance) felt the phantom pain of the poor fool that had managed to incur the wrath of the blonde fighter. Now normally he was not one to feel such sympathy for a complete stranger, but the young man definitely deserve that … even if he cut some of her hair. Which was also a big no-no while fighting. Not as big of an offence as hitting a guy in the junk, but some witches (and more than a few wizards) could a bit a 'tad' overprotective over their hair so it was kind of an unspoke rule to try and avoid inflicting any damage to it.

Another major problem was her unique ability, her so called semblance. From what he was able to observe she got exponentially stronger the angrier she got. Either that or she got stronger with every hit she took. Both of those were double edged swords to say the least. Getting angry in a fight was rarely a good idea and if the later was the case then that was even worse. Seriously what kind of ability was getting stronger the more hurt you get? That being said from what he had seen she could take one hell of a beating which meant that stopping her from charging him would probably be far harder than normal Close quarters fighters.

There were several others that had caught his attention. Most of them were older students who had showed far more variety in their fighting style than the aforementioned 'above average' students. Those students really showed just how effective those weird transforming weapons could be. It had been shocking the first time when he had seen a normal looking sword transform into a gun of some kind, but he he had soon learnt that those transforming weapons were pretty much considered normal (this revelation at least answered why he had been questioned whether his staff could turn into a gun by the youngest Arc.)Most of the time these transforming weapons were not all that impressive because of the limited fighting style of the students, but those exceptions to the rule really showed just how effective those weapons could be; easily switching between one weapon form to the next as the situation called for it. Now those were people he would have loved to have faced of against.

The last person who had really caught his attention was someone who actually looked younger than him. She had first drawn his attention due to the weapon she wielded. While most wielded weapons that were somewhat normal (albeit looking like they were compensating for something in some cases)the girl wielded a scythe. On one hand an item that was an agricultural tool that had been obsolete for centuries, but perhaps even more well know for it's associated with the personification of Death itself, but to the best of his knowledge never used as a weapon. Maybe they should have because the girl managed to make it looked bloody threatening! To be fair he was pretty sure a normally scythe did not look like that. Nor could it turn in a gun and the Muggles back home probably also didn't have the skill and power necessary to utilise the weapon like she did.

While it was her weapon that caught his attention (and maybe her appearance; she was rather cute) it was her fighting style that really made him pay attention. She was fast; far faster than her peers. He was pretty sure that was her semblance and not just Aura enhanced speed. Regardless of what made her so fast it made her bloody nightmare to face.

While the blonde would have been a nightmare to face because she could probably take whatever he could trow at her and just shrug it off the brunette could probably just dodge whatever he could trow at her and get way and way to close what that scythe of hers. His only saving grace if he was to face her was the fact that she only seems capable of moving in a single straight line while moving at super speed. Which should be able to be exploited.

Thinking of how he could beat her and several others students were actually something that had occupied his thoughts for some time. Those imaginary fights had been pretty fun, but sadly no substitute for the real thing.

It was after several days that he decided it was time to move on again. There was still plenty he wanted to learn, more fights he wanted to observe and more lessons he wanted to attend, but he was running out of time.

All the spells he had been using to hide himself were rather low-tier, but even low-tier magic could drain you when you used them day and night and after several days of doing just that Harry really started to feel the strain on his magic.

That was not even taking in account the mental strain. He had to be on his guard constantly because anything that drew to much attention to him might cause his spells to fail. So he couldn't allow anyone to bump into him, make any sudden noises or do anything that would draw attention.

It was on his way out while wondering on where he should go next that he came upon an unusual sight. On one of the outdoor sparring grounds two people were engaged in combat. Which was normally not weird, but the fact that it was a teacher and a single student in the ring was odd.

So far he had only seen students being trained in groups, with students fighting each others and the teachers occasionally stopping the match to correct the combatants. This was the first time he had seen a teacher actually in action and that had been more than enough to make him pause to observe.

It took little effort to identify the two fighters; one was the scythe wielding brunette with the distinct cape and the other was Professor Branwen. A man Harry suspected probably would get along well with Professor Trelawney … they shared one pastime at least.

Harry had had observed several of the man's classes, but every time he did he had felt uneasy. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the fact that the man had red eyes? The colour was generally associated with the less than pleasant aspects of the super natural world so it wouldn't be surprising if that was the case. Or maybe it was something else? Who knew, but whatever apprehension he might felt toward the man was not nearly enough to avoid this spar.

It was a beautiful thing.

A deadly dance of steel.

It was also completely one-sided.

The girl was skilled there was no denying that, but before the teacher she was like a child wildly swinging around a gardening tool. She was faster, or at least she moved faster than the older male, but the man effortlessly held his ground.

As far as Harry was able to see it wasn't anything physical that allowed him this, he was obviously not moving faster and from the looks of it he also wasn't overpowering her with brute strength. He was simply able to best her with skill and most likely experience. Most impressive especially considering the fact that Harry strongly suspected the man was holding back … a lot.

Harry had little doubt that just like Nicolas Arc this man was an genuine monster in terms of strength.

As the fight dragged on it became rather clear that while his earlier assessment of the girl's fighting ability still held true he also noticed flaws, highly exploitable flaws. She fought like a bloody Gryf. Attack! Attack! Attack!

While she was graceful while swinging her over-sized weapon around that did not mean her attack pattern was a bit 'simple'. It simply wasn't versatile enough for anyone who could overcome her raw speed and having witnessed her fight for some time against an opponent she was outclassed against Harry already had several strategies thought up he was sure that would work.

The professor's abilities on the other hand proved to be more true to his initial assessment. As the relentless assault of his student continued the man showed no sign of struggle, no sign of tiring; simply parrying and occasionally counterattacking with that large sword of his while occasionally trowing words of advice at his student.

It was at that time that the younger of the two was starting showing signs of growing tired and Harry knew the spar would be over soon. Sure enough only moments later the teacher called an end to it and Harry sighed in disappointment, having thoroughly enjoyed the show of skill and strength.

Still it was a good show while it lasted and he was glad to have seen it before he left Signal behind.

A sudden shout of warning from behind him made him turn around on instinct only to regret it moments later. Getting hit by a football to the back of his head would have hurt like hell, taking the hit straight in his face? Well his only solace was that it wasn't a bludger even if it felt like one. Harry groaned in pain as his tore his glasses of his face. The impact having slammed his glasses against his nose and leaving it feeling more than a little tender.

After several seconds of fighting down the sudden pain he noticed a vaguely human looking shape in front of him. Feeling no slight amount of trepidation Harry raised his glasses in front of his eyes and winced when he noticed that yes standing before him and looking right at him was a student. Several things then clicked into place in his mind.

He was hit by something; drawing attention towards him which broke most of the spells hiding him.

He was hit by a football while no one should be able to see him. So either they saw through his magic or more likely it was nothing more than bad lack. The later seems to be more likely since someone had shouted a warning which had most likely been aimed at the two sparring behind him. Not to mention no one had been able to see through them so far so it was unlike someone suddenly could.

The shot had also probably been unintentional because really interrupting two people fighting like that with one of them being a teacher was so unlikely that it couldn't be anything but impossible.

So in summarisation he was hit by a stray shot in the freaking face while no could see him while surrounded by a lot of open space. What where the chances of that happening? Astronomically low? A statistically improbability of the highest degree? Of course it could be simply plain bad luck … very, very bad luck. Maybe it was his fault for taunting Fate before?

It was then that he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Slowly turning his head and spotted the source of the sound. Standing there staring directly at him with his over-sized sword casually resting on his shoulders was professor Branwen.

Right, they could all see him now … he had almost forgotten about that.

''Uh … hi?''

XxX

It was a nice looking office Harry decided. He had been escorted here by professor Branwen after the man who had clearly not been impressed by his sudden appearance, but had fortunately not interrogated him and instead merely told him that the Headmaster of the school would want to see him.

Briefly Harry had entertained the thought of trying to get away, but thought better of it. Running away from them … or at least attempt to do so would probably look much worse than merely trespassing.

So here he was visiting yet another teacher's office. He hadn't visited any of them while scouring the school while hidden. Mostly because the adults had shown the ability to detect him to some degree and to lesser degree because why would he? It was a teacher's office. What was he going to do? Steal homework?

It was a pretty nice place; nowhere near as much professor Dumbledore's office, but definitely better looking than most of the offices of the other Hogwarts professor. The only thing he really did not like about the place was that he was 'asked' to take a seat that not only left him with his back to the door, but even worse was that it was one of the most uncomfortable chairs he had ever had the displeasure of sitting on, the only worse was the one in Snape's office and according to the rumour mill that one had been cursed to be as uncomfortable as possible.

The sudden sounds of footsteps made him tense slightly, but the feeling of his staff still clutched tightly in his hand kept him calm. It was another reason why he hadn't tried getting away. If someone had tried to take away his staff then he probably would be in a completely different situation than where he was now.

''Mister Black?''

''Yes.'' Harry affirmed as he stood up and faced the source of the voice. It is was an older male, his hair grey and his stance slightly slouched. Despite that the man still looked rather intimidating; while not as physically impressive as some people Harry had encountered since coming here there was still something that commanded respect.

''Professor Albert Green, headmaster of this fine establishment.'' The man, professor Green said as he extended his hand which Harry took for a brief shake. The man did not crush his hand, but it was still a strong handshake, clearly the man was not weak. The elder man than gestured for him to retake his seat. Harry did this somewhat reluctantly as he looked with no small amount of envy as the professor took his seat opposite of him on a considerably more comfortable looking seat.

For a moment there was an awkward silence that made Harry want to open his mouth multiple times, but every time he stopped as he had no idea what to say exactly. Eventually the Headmaster was the first to speak. ''Now I have been informed by one of my colleagues that they found you on our grounds and while this is not exactly private property. We normally don't have any unexpected visitors showing up like you did. May I enquire why you were here?''

Harry blinked in confusion. Right reason … was this a bad moment to realise that in hindsight he probably should have come up with a cover story beforehand just in case he was caught? Or even in the time he had been waiting for the professor to arrive?

Unfortunately making lies up on the spot was never his strong suit so he guessed it was time for the truth … well half-truths.

''Well it is a long story.''

Professor Green apparently found his reply amusing as he chuckled. ''Well I always do enjoy a good story and fortunately I happened to have some free time so please do tell.''

Well crap. Weren't things like it is a long story or it's complicated valid ways to show you don't want to talk about something? Well maybe those social norms didn't exist here. Of course it could also be the fact that this was not exactly a casual conversation?

''I am not exactly from here … ''

''Oh? A visitor from another kingdom?''

Yes. Yes he was, but not from one of the kingdoms the man was no doubt referring to.

''That is where the complicated parts come in.'' Harry began. ''I am from somewhere rather isolated.'' Which was true, no one could called magical Britain well integrated or any of the magical societies for that matter. ''There I was trained how to use my power.'' Also true. ''Several weeks ago I found myself waking up in an unfamiliar place, not knowing how I got there ever since there I have been looking for answers.'' Harry finished realising this whole half-truth thing was surprisingly easy, now he could hope the older man wouldn't ask any difficult question.

Professor Green hummed for a moment. ''That is indeed quite a tale.'' He said. ''There are a number of issues I feel need to be addressed; most importantly; you say you woke up in an unfamiliar place with no idea how you got there. Could you clarify that? Did you go to sleep and woke someplace else?''

Harry winced. That was a difficult question. ''Not asleep. I was attacked and must have blacked out.''

''That's rather disturbing to hear. As much as I would to ask if it were Grimm that attacked I doubt you would be sitting before me if that was the case. So instead I can only ask; were they Huntsman?''

Yes would have been the easiest answers, but that would have been such a blatant lie that it probably would backfire on him. ''The term Huntsman is not something I have heard in the context you are using until a few weeks ago; my teacher referred to me and those like me as Mahōtsukai, people who could use and manipulate mahou. I know for a fact those that attecked me were Mahōtsukai, but I do not know if that is the same Huntsman.''

There for better of for worse he said it; he admitted he might be something else than an Aura user. He was not ready to flat out say that he had magic and instead he probably butchered the Japanese language and used the words he had from Master Li … or at least something resembling it. Now he could only hope that their ability to speak foreign language really only extend to the whole naming your kids part.

''I cannot say I have ever heard anyone refer to Aura or Huntsman with such words, but much of our history has been lost and if you are indeed from a very isolated settlement as you indicated than then it might be that your people use words that felt out of use centuries ago everywhere else. I would have to do some research maybe I can find something, but I guess that is not important now. You were attacked by a group of people. Do you know why?''

Ah, that one was much easier to answer. ''They call themselves Death Eaters, their group have rather narrow views on what kind of people should be allowed to use mahou. In their opinion I among other people did not deserve that honour.'' It was the truth for the most part even without the whole boy-who-lived thing he was still a filthy half-blood, the son of a Mudblood who had the audacity to dilute a pure-blood line. Sooner or later the Death Eaters would have wanted him dead. The best part was his explanation should be plausible to the man. Harry may not have been here for long, but he had seen that racism and discrimination were far from uncommon here.

The professor shook his head clearly not pleased with the answer. ''I see.'' He said in a clipped tone. ''I take it you have no way of returning home?''

Harry shrugged. ''I don't even know where home is exactly. My teachers were always more interested in teaching me on how to utilise mahou rather than the more mundane subjects.''

''I see … do you think those … Death Eaters, you called them? Exiled you? If their goal is to get rid of certain people perhaps some or maybe even all of those in that group merely want those people out of their sights. If this group consists of locals then they must know you wouldn't be able to make you way back home if you are left somewhere far enough. It is possible they might have subdued you and moved you while you are unconscious.''

Death Eaters keeping him alive on purpose? Harry inwardly snorted. The only chance of that happening was if Voldemort had specifically told them to keep him alive so no exiled was not what he had been, but still he guessed he could see how the professor had reached that conclusion with the information given to him.

''I guess you could be right.'' Harry agreed. ''I honestly don't know.''

''Well whatever their reason might be you are here now at my school. As both a teacher and a Huntsman I will do whatever I can to do help you, but I am afraid that unless you have more concrete information on your settlement getting you home will be difficult if not outright impossible. I will admit this is not something I deal with daily so I am afraid I can't give you a perfect solution right this instant, but I can assure there are option for you.''

''Like what?'' Harry enquired, honestly curious what information the professor could give him.

''How old are you James?''

Blinking in surprise at the sudden question and the sudden use of his 'first name' Harry quickly recovered. ''A couple weeks away from my sixteenth birthday, sir.''

''Then a possible option for you is to apply to became a ward to the Kingdom of Vale.'' The professor said before elaborating. '' The kingdom sadly has many orphans, but fortunately they are looked after … that is if the government is aware of them. In your case since you were part of a isolated settlement are most likely not a registered citizen so you are going to need to apply directly, but I can take care of take if this is your desire.''

''And what would that mean for me? Becoming a ward of the Kingdom I mean?''

''Well I am sure someone can explain this better than me, but basically a ward of Kingdom is someone below the age majority who has no one who can take care of him or her who is above the age of majority. The government then takes responsibility for that person until he or she reaches the age of majority. They will provide you with your basic needs; food, shelter, health-care, education, I believe wards are even given a small allowance. Don't ask me how much as I have no idea, but don't expect much as they are already taking care of most of your needs. In cases such you when a non-registered citizen applies then if you are accepted you will also automatically become a citizen of Vale.''

''And that would mean for me … ?''

''A good question, but one I can't answer without talking for several hour, but to summarise Vale had many laws and regulations for it's citizens. Laws and regulation which which would then also apply to you. Don't worry about learning about all of them. Huntsman and police officers are expected to know a fair bit about it as do the rest of the people working in the justice system, but most regular citizens only know the bare minimum. The one thing that I guess you should be aware of is the fact the fact that all citizens of Vales below the age of seventeen are mandatory to attend schooling and I mean no offence, but if what you told me is true the this might be a problem for you. Attending classes at a civilian school with people your own age should be near impossible for you and even attending an Huntsman academy might be challenging for you. While we don't focus as much on the more mundane subjects as our civilian counterparts we also don't want to produce dumb grunts. Which mean you would most likely have to start in a lower grade. The only possible exception I can think of would be if you combat abilities are so advanced that it would compensate for you lack of theoretical knowledge and even then you would be expected to study extensively.''

Well that was certainly blunt.

As much as it galled it him to basically be called dumb harry managed to remain calm as he processed this new information for a moment. The offer certainly did sound enticing. The man did sound honest in his desire to help him and while this would mean he would be registered by the local government Harry had little doubt he could always disappear if he wanted. Besides the whole school thing did not sound all that bad … actually learning things by people instead having trying to recover information on his own would be great and he would not lie and say it wouldn't be nice to interact with people his age again. Even if sooner or later he would have to leave them behind again.

''If I were to accept how would be my combat abilities be assessed?''

The professor gave him a grin that made him look several years younger and Harry was not going to lie; the sight of it filled him with a bit of apprehension. ''Just how confident are you in your abilities?''

''A lot?''

The professor's grin grew just a little wider and Harry realised he might have made a mistake.

XxX

A spar? That was it? That was exactly what he had been wanting to do these last couple of days. Had he been overly paranoid because how his life had been going so far? It was certainly possible, but that was not important right now. Now it was time for a fight. He was already standing in the middle of the ring left there by Professor Green after said man had informed him he was going to look for a 'volunteer'.

Harry wondered who it was he was going to face. Perhaps it was someone he had already observed (which he would admit was a bit unfair, but no one ever said life was fair). Still he was pretty sure he was going to be fine as long as it wasn't one of the teachers or …

''Hiya!''

… her.

Striding up toward him while looking far to happy was none other than the blonde she-devil herself.

''Fuck you fate.''

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

Another chapter finished and I hope you guys enjoyed it. Last chapter was better received than I expected so that was great to see. I do have a question for you guys; so far I have been writing this story in Third-Person Limited style (except last chapter) which basically mean that while the story is written in third person you only get to see Harry's thoughts. Do you guys think I should continue this or would it be better if I wrote the thoughts of other people during conversations (Third-Person Omniscient)? I used the later style in some of my other work, but I am really enjoying the limited style so far.

I would appreciate you guys thoughts on this.

 **Next chapter: Hufflepuff Yellow**


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